Ba-Ku-Ra!
by Miss-DNL
Summary: After transferring to Domino High and coming into contact with the Millennium Puzzle Ryo finds out about his evil yami...but not just about him he meets another spirit in the ring...the King of Thieves! With his help Ryo and his friends beat the yami in a shadow game and from then on Ryo's story changes drastically and is sent out onto a dangerous but exciting adventure! R
1. Chapter 1 New Shadow

**This story is a collaboration between me and a good friend of mine RenagadeRexRider. She does not have a fanfiction account so I'll be posting this here. This story is based off an rp we're doing. Its still in the works but we've made it to the Battle City arc! This story is none yaoi so there will be no yaoi pairing, sorry. Before each chapter I will you who played what parts and who did the chapter you are reading. **

**But first here is Renagade's Deviantart account: renagaderexrider . deviantart .com  
**

**Chapter: RenagadeRexRider**

**Renagade: Thief Bakura (Akefia) & Yami Bakura**

**Miss-DNL: Ryo & Yugi**

* * *

**Chap 1: A New Shadow**

By: RenagadeRexRider & Miss-DNL

Bright sunlight gleamed down on Domino City, the skies a perfect azure and home to many a fluffy cloud and the birds who flew through them without a care in the world. People moved about their lives with family, friends and coworkers signifying a good day, a perfect day. One of many.

But for one individual, the day was dark… far darker than anyone could dare dream of. This was one of many, and many more, he was certain, to come. The individual was a white haired boy; a pale skinned teen named Ryou Bakura. Currently he was sitting in a dark corner of a room; not a material room, but a rarely accessed plain within himself that was better known as his soul room, a place where one should feel the safest… but with his knees drawn into himself in an attempt to make himself smaller, he was anything but safe.

Ryou had been sitting like this, silent for some while now. Slowly, he opened his spring green eyes and looked up to stare at a creature that for all practical reasons, was himself; It looked like him right down to his clothing, but his eyes carried a remarkably cruel glimmer that Ryou knew he'd never be able to express even if he tried. The creature had called itself "Yami", a "Dark Self", an ancient spirit residing within an item called the Millennium Ring; An item given to him as a gift for his eighth birthday from his own father… of course his father hadn't known about it.

For years after obtaining the ring, even Ryou hadn't known of his Yami's presence. But during those years however, everyone, including himself, had thought him cursed. Ryou whimpered as he dwelled on those memories, ones that had led him into a life of rejection and solitude. His father, his only remaining family, was never around due to his job to keep his son fed, and Ryou was left alone with his apparent curse.

It wasn't until his recent transfer that Ryou first became aware of the creature dwelling within him. It had responded to another item, The Millennium Puzzle and for the first time, had made itself known to him…. only to openly declare him its host, its permanent slave. A point made frighteningly real to Ryou only the day before…

Now Ryou found himself trapped within his own soul room, watching his Yami move about as if in deep thought, an irate look about his face as it moved about; its presence so imposing, Ryou knew to stay away. Despite this Ryou couldn't help but feel a little curious about the thoughtful emotions radiating around him and spoke up, "Erm… n-not that I like the idea of you causing trouble… but…. Are you…ok?" he asked slowly, unsure of how to approach the creature.

The Yami snapped his head to him, clearly angry by the break in silence, "Silence yourself mortal. I have plans to complete, and I won't have you breaking my thought process or getting in my way."

'Plans? Please… don't get more demented…' Ryou thought then winced as he gulped down the lump that he suddenly found in his throat by its glare, "Is that why you've forced me into my soul room…?" he asked uncertainly. From what Ryou could tell, the Yami did not take kindly to him attempting to remove the ring, despite him having planted the prongs into his flesh to prevent such an occurrence, "I can't really do anything here… why do you have to be here? You have your own soul room…" he offered slowly, gesturing nervously to his soul room door, "Just… saying…" he said slowly.

'Why won't you leave?' he thought weakly as the Yami simply huffed at his observation without saying a word and proceeded to pace, making Ryou's hopes it would leave him alone at least here vanish, "Okay then…." He managed weakly as he played with his fingers trying to distract his mind from the twisted entity before him.

Hours drifted by, and Ryou remained silently where he was when the Yami growled, "I can't focus in this pathetic portion of your soul!" he snarled suddenly before glaring at Ryou, "Keep it."

Ryou blinked and then drew a sigh of profound relief when the spirit then made its leave, 'If that was so, why were you in here in the first place?' he wondered to himself as he slowly stood and looked up. It was then that Ryou realized something and felt a wave of worry, "what's my body doing if I'm not controlling it?"

It was at that moment that Ryou felt an odd sensation; like he felt movement, but far away and he himself felt… bound. It took Ryou only a moment to realize that the Yami had not retreated to its soul as he had thought, but had taken full command of his body instead.

"Much better. Now…What to do?" Yami Bakura inquired aloud. From within the confines of his own soul, Ryou heard the spirit clearly. To his surprise an opening appeared before him. Curious, Ryou stood and walked over to it; stretching out a hand, he made contact with the opening and realized it was more like a window… a glimpse to the outside. Ryou sighed; it was like being in a cage.

Looking out Ryou saw his room, nothing out of place that he could tell. He smiled slightly until he saw a pile of makeup work that had accumulated over the past few weeks, 'How about going to school?' he thought wishfully, 'I'm drowning in homework enough as it is!'

Yami Bakura blinked and looked down at the Ring, an uncaring look on his face as he heard Ryou's voice echo in his head, his thoughts not being well suppressed. Yami Bakura had no real care over the trivial life his host led; his presence was little more than a bearable thorn in his existence… for the moment. For now, however, he'd allow his host to exist, let him hope, let him amuse him for a while longer as he toyed with his life. The Yami smirked; despite his blatant disregard for his host's wish, it was one he was willing to act on…. After all, he had business there.

The Yami dressed himself accordingly, much to Ryou's fleeting relief in the light it was not for his own benefit, and soon found himself striding up to the school called Domino High, for once quite early.

Entering the school grounds, Yami Bakura flicked his eyes about the crowds of teens grouped here and there. Each group to its own nonsense, he wouldn't even give a passing thought; his only thought was pinned on only one student amongst the whole, 'Where are you Yugi…?' he thought maliciously, a grin tugging his lips as he turned towards a much less crowded area. A cruel cat like grin snaked its way onto Ryou's normally friendly face as he located his target; a short young boy sporting a wild mess of dark purple hued hair with long, spiky blonde bangs. Immediately Yami Bakura made his way towards Yugi, his cruel cunning look melting away, "Yugi!" he called, waving to the boy in an eager and happy manner, a perfect mimic of Ryou Bakura himself.

Ryou winced as his Yami approached him; Yugi was one of his new friends! What was he going to do him?!

To Ryou's surprise and distress, Yugi turned and smiled brightly as he registered who had hailed him, "Oh hi Bakura!" he said in his normal happy chipper tone, "I was wondering where you were! You haven't' been to school in a while…" his face shifted to one of concern, "Is everything okay?"  
Ryou winced in dismay as his shoulders slumped, "How could he fall for that?!... Why does he have to be such a good actor?"

Yami Bakura smiled and continued his rouse, "Oh that? I'm fine… Wasn't feeling myself was all." He replied with a reassuring smile, "Tell me, How have you been?"

'Of course he has to use irony…' Ryou huffed to himself. He stopped as he noted a fleeting look in Yugi's eyes as his Yami spoke. Did he notice something, Ryou thought hopefully.

"Oh… I've been fine." Yugi replied as he looked off to the side; To Ryou, he seemed unsure.

Yami Bakura tilted his head, also noting the disturbance in Yugi's demeanor, "Oh? You say that, and yet you seem a bit reluctant." A look of concern came to his face as he spoke, "Are you certain?"

Yugi looked to his friend and noted the look of worry about him, immediately he nodded and smiled, "Yes! Just some headaches is all…. Probably just need more water!" he said with a friendly laugh.

Yami Bakura felt his brow twitch and he suppressed a developing grin, "Headaches…? How odd."

Yugi blinked and observed Bakura for a moment, his statement seeming a bit… strange, "Not really…" he replied slowly. Yugi then shook off the thought, perhaps he was reading too much into it, "I'll be fine." He replied with a smile.

"Not really?" Yami Bakura echoed as he observed "his friend" before him, "You have them often?"

Yugi shook his head, "No. Not really, just every now and then."  
Yami Bakura felt himself grin to himself broadly…. He'd have to dig just a little further to be for sure, "Ah. Well that's good. I mistrust headaches…" he said slowly looking off to the side as if in thought, "I used to get them before blacking out."

Yugi snapped to attention and blinked at him curiously, as well as just a little nervous, "Really?"

Yami Bakura nodded, "Yes. They came about a little at first... and then after a time I began forgetting small portions of time... it's so strange, and things often get frightening. You never know what could or did happen in those moments. One could get hurt..." he said as if pondering the thought.

Inside his soul room, Ryou found himself shaking in anger that went unheeded, his fists balled so tight his knuckles were white at his Yami's mentions of his personal ordeals; personal ordeals that had led him into his life of solitude… now he was using them to bait his friend. Is this how he always did it? Noting Yugi gulp, it looked to be effective…

Yugi's voice wavered slightly as he spoke. It seemed to Ryou the statement had unsettled him more than it should have, "That would be…"  
"Unsettling?" Yami Bakura finished, seemingly noticing Yugi's tone as well, prompting him to continue, "Indeed. You haven't had any experiences like that though... Have you?"

For a moment, neither spoke. Yami Bakura smirking inwardly as he watched Yugi shift, obviously disturbed by the question, 'Go on…. Answer little Yugi~' he thought somewhat excitedly.

"There…. Have been a few times…" Yugi admitted at last, Yami Bakura feeling his excitement hitting a pinnacle,  
"Quite the coincidence isn't it?" he said questioningly, "That the both of us having such experiences…. And both of us having these items," he said tapping to his chest, implying to Yugi that he was wearing the ring, "Such a strange thing…"

Yugi gave a small weary laugh as he shifted in place gazing down at his puzzle, "Yeah… it's kind of worrying. Everyone who dug up the puzzle died shortly after…."

Yami Bakura felt his mouth twitch, "You don't…. say?"

"Yeah. Kind of makes me wonder how my grandpa got ahold of it without anything happening." Yugi finished, lightly tugging at the puzzle's strap.  
At first Ryou didn't know what to make of the peculiar wave of emotion he began to sense from the spirit. It wasn't until he focused on it that he felt himself deadpan, "I don't believe this… You're upset because he's got… an evil side?"

Yami Bakura felt himself bristle at his host's comment and hissed menacingly at him, his voice rattling Ryou's mind as it struck, 'Shut up runt!'  
Ryou simply withdrew a bit and shook his head once he felt the spirit redirect his focus once more, 'For a spirit he acts like a child at times…'

A crooked smile began to develop on Yami Bakura's face as he glanced down at the puzzle like a hungry wolf, "Got the better luck?"

Yugi noted the odd look on his friend's face and withheld his question, "I… guess so…" he said slowly, unsure if he should inquire his friends increasingly odd behavior.

Yami Bakura continued to stare as if he were in a staring contest with the puzzle itself for several moments, 'He's mocking me…' he thought angrily.  
Ryou couldn't help but huff at the poorly guarded thought, 'I really doubt that….' he muttered softly to himself,

'How dare he think he can steal any portion of my powers… and get away with it?' Yami Bakura thought venomously, ensuring his thoughts to be private. For a few uncomfortable moments, Yami Bakura simply stood staring at the puzzle as if transfixed; longing greatly to simply tear the boy apart and take the puzzle right then and there. But the rules were there…. And currently he could do nothing about that….. Currently. Yami Bakura cleared his throat and shifted, perhaps he could get a bit more information from this trusting little mortal, "Oh well….. not that anything bad has happened since then."

Ryou felt the venomous emotions radiating about him as the spirit seemed to get increasingly agitated, fearing for his friend Ryou spoke up in an attempt to calm it down, "Perhaps you're just being… paranoid? He's not trying to upstage you or anything!"

Yugi gave a weak smile, "Well…." He began not sure if he should continue, but found himself opening up to his friend, "It seems that bad things do happen… occasionally. And they happen to people who hurt me or my friends…"

Yami Bakura felt his mouth twist into a confused frown, "Excuse me?"

Yugi looked at his friend for a few moments, once more unsure if he should continue… after all… he hadn't even spoken to his own Best friend Jono about this yet. Carefully he looked at his friend's face who looked curious as well as concerned before looking around to see if anyone might be eaves dropping and whispered slightly for extra measure, "I haven't told anyone this before…..Promise you won't tell anyone?" he asked carefully.

Ryou blinked and leaned towards his "window" in curiosity as well as shock, 'Yugi is actually keeping secrets from his friends?!' Ryou felt the spirit's curiosity spike as well.

Yami Bakura blinked and looked back at Yugi evenly, "I can keep a secret. You can trust me Yugi." he offered in a friendly and whispering voice after glancing around.

Yugi nodded and then proceeded to tell Bakura his troubles, starting with the first incident with their old Hall Monitor who had turned out to be a vicious bully; He had ended up in a mental hospital not long after his final act of bullying both him and his friends Jonochi and Honda. Another instance involved a cruel TV producer who had Yugi beaten up for his show, and then proceeded to threaten Jono when he moved to stand up for him; his fate ended up with him being incapable of sight, claiming he could only see distorted images as if the world was censored. Many other instances ended very grimly, anyone who had bullied Yugi or his friends ended up unconscious, others burned and others even electrocuted. All had taken place before Bakura's arrival at school, and all of them had Ryou pale and dumbfounded, "That's…. Quite a list…." He managed nervously. A surge of irritation swept through Ryou, stunning him, "Wow… you're shocked!"

Yami Bakura stood staring at Yugi, refraining from the impending burst of anger trying to claw its way up, "….Are you….serious?" he managed rigidly. Yugi nodded slowly, interpreting Bakura's expression as simple shock… inwardly he feared he would turn and leave him… would he tell everyone?

"Yeah… Please don't tell anyone Bakura!" he pleaded.  
Yami Bakura stood rigidly staring at the puzzle in fury; HE was using HIS powers… for JUSTICE? "I… wouldn't… Dream of it…" he managed.

Yugi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and attempted to change the subject, "Oh, Some shop keeper got stung by his pet scorpion."

Whether the comment had been related to the list of occurrences or not, Ryou had no idea and from the sudden wave of pure rage that assaulted him, he figured his Yami had chosen the former, "I KNOW you're in there! And you're MOCKING me aren't you?! You think you have the RIGHT?! Wait until I get ahold of you AND all your little friends!" he shouted, his wrath no longer held back.

Ryou felt his heart fall as Yugi winced and drew back in a mix of shock, confusion and fear, "Oh boy…here we go…." He said shallowly. If he had a friend before, he was gone to him now.

"B-Bakura… What are you talking about?!" Yugi gasped taking a step back as if afraid he'd be struck.

Yami Bakura felt himself wince at his lack of self-control and growled to himself, "I-…. I mean….",  
'SHIT!' he snarled angrily, 'How unbecoming… of me…'

Ryou felt himself jerk and felt himself being dragged, the suddenness stunning him, "Correction…" his Yami hissed, voice still laced with anger, "Here YOU go."

Ryou blinked and twitched as he realized he was once more in control, Yugi staring at him mouth agape and confused. Ryou opened his own mouth to speak, but found himself at a loss for words. Flushed with embarrassment and being shaken he looked for a way out, "Uh…I… Gotta go….," he managed at last voice shaky, "I… I forgot my backpack, eheheheh….." he said backing away, "Let's just forget about this okay? I don't know 'what' came over me…." With that he spun on his heel with a brief wave and briskly left the school grounds to return home, avoiding the piercing gazes he knew he was receiving, Yugi staring after him more confused than ever.

Ryou sprinted back home as soon as he found himself out of sight; anger, anxiety and sadness twisting in a whirlwind inside of him as he neared home…

"So I'm a 'What' Now?" a voice echoed in his skull; Ryou flinched and rushed even faster,

'Be Quiet!' he shouted back, not currently caring about the Yami's consequences, 'It's bad enough people think I'm cursed, now they're going to think I'm crazy!"

The Yami chuckled, as if amused by Ryou's turmoil, almost as if it enjoyed it, "No skin off my nose~" he mocked as Ryou slowed down at last, out of breath from his run.

'I don't know why you had to get so upset….So there's another evil spirit out there, So what?' he groaned as he continued home solemnly, 'At least He's not bullying HIS host…' Ryou thought to himself sadly, 'I wish I could somehow switch with Yugi….' He stopped and shook out the thought as he felt the prongs tug at his chest. No… he couldn't do that to his friend.

The Yami huffed, his anger momentarily flaring, "I won't have him using that power in THAT manner." He hissed as Ryou walked up to his apartment.  
With a despondent sigh, Ryou entered the building, 'I don't even know what you're talking about…' he said stiffly, his voice strained, 'I just…. Want to be normal.'

The comment made his Yami laugh, "Not a chance, Landlord. Not at this point… Now stop your bellyaching."

Ryou closed and locked his door and proceeded into his room and took up some of his make-up work having nothing else to do, considering he doubted he'd return to school…. Again... 'I have every right to complain about being used…' he shot back.

The Yami glared at Ryou from within the darkness of the Ring and scowled, "Perhaps. But keep in mind, Landlord, that I do have a short temper. You'd do well to tread carefully." he hissed.

"Hahah! I have to agree on that temper…That kid was literally not even trying and he pissed you the fuck off!" A voice suddenly piped.

Ryou twitched at the sudden and unfamiliar voice, his eyes widening as he realized the voice had come from within the ring as well, "Are there TWO of you?!" He gasped and then felt his spirits take yet another nose dive as he plopped down and buried his face in his hands, "You have got to be kidding me…." he whimpered.

Ryou blinked and looked up as he felt his Yami's emotions. He too seemed just as confused and then just as quickly angry, "You aren't allowed to speak! Shut up and get back where you came from!" he commanded forcefully.

Ryou blinked as the new spirit didn't even pause at the threat and ignored the comment and directed his attention to Ryou, "'Fraid not. I'm the original bearer of the Ring. And let me tell you, I really wish he'd be quiet as well."

The Yami's anger flared at being ignored, "SHUT UP I SAID!" he roared.  
At first Ryou cringed at the flare in rage, but sensing the new spirit seemed undaunted, he carefully turned to him, "Exactly who are you? And why is he telling you to "go back where you came from?"

The new spirit grinned broadly, even though he could not be seen by the boy, "My name is Akefia." He announced pridefully, "King of Thieves~"

* * *

**These chapters will not be too long to avoid loading up work on each other so they will not be the usual length I post. **

**I hope you enjoy this story as much as we have rping it~**

**First chapter you will note that there is two spirits in the Ring~**

**that and Yugi got freaked out XDDDD**

**Please Follow, Favorite and Review~! It helps motivate us a lot ^^**


	2. Chapter 2 Ebbing Tension

**Here we go folks! Chapter two! I wrote this one :D and I hope you enjoy it as much as you did my friends! I was really glad to see the first chapter was well received and I hope that continues!**

**Renagade's Deviant art account: RenagadeRexRider. deviantart. com**

**Chapter: Miss-DNL**

**Renagade: Thief Bakura**

**Miss-DNL: Ryo**

* * *

Chapter 2: Ebbing Tension

By: Miss-DNL & RenagadeRexRider

Ryo listened in slight awe when the new spirit Akefia, King of Thieves, continued to speak, answering his questions in spite of his yami's rising anger at being ignored by the thief, "As to where I came from. Ah, how do I put it...? I'm like... a tether if you will. I'm essentially what's holding HIM here…not like I have much choice..." There was a bite of annoyance and hate towards Ryo's yami which brought intrigue to Ryo. Akefia didn't like the yami? Was this new spirit not here to help in tormenting him?

The Yami growled angrily, anger still rising because of Akefia's disobedience and blatantly ignoring him, "Exactly, and as such... GET BACK." He snapped to the other spirit. His anger spiked again when the Thief King merely huffed at his order.

'I believe I understand…' Ryo said through the link though a bit warily due to his Yami's obviously heated anger but his curiosity over took his fear for the moment, "King of Thieves? Interesting, though I'm sorry to hear about your situation…' He said thoughtfully playing with his pencil a bit in his hands; He knew that wasn't a pleasant situation for anyone.

The Thief King huffed bluntly he hated pity, "Don't pity me. One thing I don't really care for..." He half muttered to Ryo.

At this point the Yami's anger reached its boiling point, "I SAID BACK!" He snarled furiously using the Ring's power, causing the eye to light up with bright golden light, and sent a shock of power at the Thief King. Unable to stop it or defend himself Akefia was thrown back and silenced again, once more bound. The Yami snorts satisfied before retreating to his soul room sealing himself there for the moment.

Surprised by the Ring lighting up Ryo let out a surprised gasp, "Eh!?" He blinks confused by all the sudden silence Ryo looks around a little wary before slowly getting back to his homework. There was nothing he could do to help the new spirit nor did he know where he was sent. He sighed to himself; he was alone again for the moment.

A few moments later, the yami still locked in his soul room, Akefia's voice was heard again. He groaned painfully, "Agh...damn...bastard...that fucking hurt!" He barked angrily.

Ryo, who was still doing homework, lifted his head surprised to hear the thief again so soon. Curious he titled his head wondering how he unsealed himself so fast, 'Oh, you're still here? I thought he locked you up.' He commented writing down an answer to a question.

The thought of someone being able to lock him up caused Akefia to chuckle, "Hardly. He can't forever contain me, I am the Thief King after all." He said proud of himself and his skills, "I find ways to break my binds, at least in this case simply to talk. I did it once. I can do it again with ease." Akefia grinned triumphantly before frowning, "I can't free myself completely however... He's bound me too tight with shadow energy..."

'Yes that makes sense...' Ryo smiled a bit laughing lightly, the prideful thief was refreshing to Ryo's solitary life. Ryo knitted his brow in confusion, 'shadow energy?' Looking off at a wall the white haired teen figured it was the source of his malevolent Yami's power. Looking towards his game room , Ryo felt sorrow wash over him as he thought to himself, 'I guess that's how he did those things to my friends...though they can't do anything as far as I know...'

Akefia arched a brow to this slightly surprised the host was unaware of this, "Do you not know of it?' He hummed thoughtfully, 'It's the dark energy from the Shadow Realm...'

Ryo sighed slightly, there was a lot he didn't know he know that much ironically, 'Not really least I know what it is now...all I know is that he takes over and my friend's souls end up in the figures I've made. Newest was a teacher though.' He stroked his hair remembering how the P.E teacher pulled his hair not liking how long it was. That had ended up badly for him to say the least.

The Thief King perked at this interestedly, "Really now? Are they still currently trapped?"

Ryo nodded to the spirit through there was no real point to it, seeing as he couldn't see him, 'Yeah, I can't do anything to help them so I've kept the dolls safe.' He said through the link as he continued to work on his makeup work and homework.

Seeming to note his upset feelings, Akefia smirks and goes quiet a moment looking around as if to make sure no one is listening, "Hehe, keeping them safe huh? What if I told you, you might be able to actually free them?" The Thief King mused slyly.

Ryo perks lifting his head up and putting down his pencil giving the spirit his undivided attention, 'I'm listening...'

"Mind you... it is a gamble and a dangerous game, but play it right and get him to initiate a Shadow game with someone, preferably not you. The Shadow Realm takes pleasure in shadow games and most notably gambling. Particularly with human souls, name the stakes and offers and simply beat him. He'll have no choice but to obey the rules. Disobey the rules, and the game punishes with penalty and you'll win...Lose and... well... you might completely lose everything...hence why the 'preferably not you'." The Thief King explained carefully with a hint of warning in his voice.

Thinking carefully Ryo replies to the spirit, 'I see, guess that's how they got in there in the first place. I have a feeling one will happen soon though.' He said thinking about how his Yami snapped earlier, he still thought it was a bit ridiculous, 'He's mad at another spirit for 'up staging' him. That's why he snapped earlier.'

Hearing this Akefia arched a brow, "Oh, another spirit?" He inquired curiously.

Looking back to his work Ryo groaned a bit, he still had a long way to go before he was all caught up. Focusing back on his work, taking his pencil up again, he answered Akefia as he worked, 'Yeah, he's in the Puzzle that belongs to Yugi. He seems to like burning people.' Ryo said via the link as he scribbled the next answer down on his worksheet.

Hearing that Akefia twitched irately causing the Ring to shudder from his anger, "You don't say..." He said stiffly; merely remembering HIM made the Thief King angry.

A sudden shudder going through his body and hearing clanks of metal hitting together causing him to look down at the Ring seeing it shake slightly, 'Uh...yes?' He responded hesitantly picking up on the thief's anger.

The King of Thieves shook off his anger, he didn't need to scare the child, "Hmph... yes...," He paused a moment to recompose himself, "then yes. A Shadow Game is inevitable... just need to wait." He finished a bit stiffly.

Relieved he calmed, Ryo nods curtly before looking back to his work and continues working on it although is already tired of it making him rub his forehead with the palm of his hand. He hums, pauses then tones down his 'mental voice' just in case. 'What happens to you...if...he loses?' Though he just met the spirit, and judging by his title, Ryo knew he was a criminal, but he didn't want anything bad to happen to him. He worried that since he was connected to his Yami that he'd be punished as well if the Yami lost.

Akefia stops a moment, he hadn't thought of that, and for a while says nothing before sighing, "...I don't know..." He admitted not having a sure answer for the boy.

The Ring bearer stops for a moment taking the answer in, 'I see...' Silently he goes back to his work not knowing how to reply to the spirit.

The Thief King huffs to this, "Doesn't matter." He said bluntly, "Anything would be better than this." Akefia tries to shift but this binds keep him firmly in place frustrating the thief making him growl irately, "I can't even move!"

Ryo laughs slightly despite himself feeling emotionally drained doesn't catch it. 'I suppose that's true.' He looks at the pile of homework and make up work sighing rubbing his temples already feeling a headache coming on, 'I'm going to have major headache after this...' Unable to do anything about it Ryo shakes his head finishing the current sheet before pulling out another one. The pile of homework still prominent on his desk and still bigger than the completed pile making Ryo sigh dismally to this.

Akefia growls at his laugh but shuns it off figuring he meant nothing by it. He turned his attention to all the work ahead of the boy and chuckles, "Hehe... yes, be a good little boy and work like a scribe... typical nonsense for a child." He snorted bluntly at the situation.

'Heh, might as well since I won't be going to school again today,' Ryo laughed dully before looking at the clock judging that class would be starting about now and gets back to his work. He didn't doubt he'd be getting a call from his Father demanding an explanation as to why he was missing so much school again. Then his Yami would make him lie, not that he really needed too Ryo didn't want to tell him what his gift had done to him. He figured to himself that he should start coming up with an excuse already so he could sound more convincing when his Dad called.

Akefia huffed, "True... that bastard made sure to that..." He paused for a moment, "or you're just self-conscious about being called insane."

Ryo flinched and looked off to the side; he didn't like the thought of being called insane. He wasn't! 'Not sure about the first one,' He wasn't sure if his Yami would stop him from going to school, and he didn't really want to test it. 'But yeah, now they think I'm cursed and bipolar...I doubt today's incident will blow over too...' Ryo could already hear the whispers of rumors spreading at the school when he did go back it wasn't going to be easy for him.

Akefia chuckled a bit darkly, he had faced both accusations in his life he couldn't see what the big deal was, "and that's a problem?"

The boy tensed at the thief's chuckling, it was almost like he was amused by his problem, 'To me it is.' He answered stiffly not really wanting to discuss this.

The Thief King seemed to notice his well apparent sensitivity to the subject and huffs, "Well then running away doesn't make it better now does it?" He pointed out plainly.

All the emotion seemed to drain from Ryo and he shook his head, 'No. It doesn't. I know it doesn't.' Ryo said through the link his voice quiet, 'I've tried facing it and fixing things but he makes sure it stays the way things are or makes it worse.' His voice strained as he gritted his teeth trying to keep his building emotions in check, 'I've tried so many times...gone through so many schools...Domino barely let me join. 'For your safety and the safety of others we can't allow you in', that's what one school said.' Remembering that memory he frowned, it wasn't because the school head believed in curses but by then his sanity had been in question due to some incidents that and his grades were poor by then. Ryo stares down at the paper snapping his eyes shut fighting back the urge to cry, shaking his head to continue with the work.

Akefia went silent for a moment before speaking in a softer yet still firm tone to the boy, "Lucky for you... fate may be tilting in your favor. It won't be long now before a shadow game is dealt. And when that happens, all I can say is fight back. Hehe, you may have already made allies and not even know it...~" The Thief King mused slyly to his host.

Hearing that Ryo perks a bit, 'I hope so, I'll do my best.' The white haired teen smiled slightly, grateful to the spirit, 'Thanks, Akefia...I needed that.'

The Thief King mentally looked away with a huff, "... don't mention it."

Ryo brightens and gets back to his work finishing a little over half of it, stretches his back and arms out getting a few relieving pops from his back and shoulder relaxing him a bit. He yawns a little tired from the homework, "Uuh, I think that's enough for now." He rubs his head tiredly before getting up. "Time for bed..." Ryo yawns again before heading to his room scratching his head a little, eyes getting heavy with sleep.

Akefia hummed before chuckling briefly, "Heh... rest well." He glances mentally into the darkness and disappears, 'You might be needing it...' He expected no response as Ryo fell asleep instantly as soon as he curled up under the blanket of his bed.

* * *

**Not much but conversation and angst in this chapter XD but we get a better idea if Akefia is out to torment Ryo or not...maybe**

**Hope you enjoyed~!**

**Please follow/favorite & Review! It really helps keep us motivated!**


	3. Chapter 3 The Game Begins

**Okay here's chapter 3! This one is longer than the rest so we hope you enjoy this one! I hope this chapter is well received like the others were and that this story continues to grow in popularity. Me and Renagade are both very happy with how well this is doing and we hope you'll enjoy the chapters to come. Ryo & Akefia really deserve more spot lights in stories other than romance ;)**

**Renagade's Deviantart account: RenagadeRexRider .deviantart .com**

**Chapter: Renagade**

**Renagade: Thief Bakura & Yami Bakura**

**Miss-DNL: Ryo, Yugi, Anzu, Honda & Jonouchi**

* * *

**Chap. 3 the game begins**

For the first time in several days, Ryou fell asleep quickly and peacefully from the small glimmer of hope that was presented him in the form of a new spirit. The Thief King himself simply retreating back to his binds woven deep within the Ring itself to prevent unwanted attention to himself. For the remainder of the night, all was perfectly silent within the sleeping Ryou's mind.

But as dawn drew near, the dark consciousness of the Ring stirred and grinned as a nights worth of planning had finally bore fruit. Now there was only a simple matter of putting it all into motion; leaving the area that was deemed its own, the Yami only stopped to invade the still sleeping Ryou's soul room and grinned down at him, "Heheheh….. Stay sleeping for a while, Landlord~, I have business to attend to today." He hissed as a portion of shadow energy from the ring itself proceeded to surround him.

Ryou shifted only briefly in response to the dark presence of his Yami's malicious tone and intents when the shadow energy took firm hold. In mere seconds, Ryou was pushed back into his peaceful sleep, unaware of his Yami as he took full control, dressed accordingly, even taking up his backpack and finished work and made his way to Domino High.

It took only a few minutes for the Yami to make it to the school, once more early in hopes to set his timing just right. Upon his arrival, Yami Bakura once more turned his sights on Yugi Motou, whom he located just as he arrived through the gates not far from where he'd spotted him the day before. His initial malicious smirk shifting to a much friendlier smile befitting of Ryou Bakura as he made his way towards him, "Yugi! Hey Yugi!" he called.

Yugi turned his head towards the direction of the voice, a small wave of awkward anxiety surging through him as he realized it had been Bakura who had called. Despite that, he turned towards him and attempted to look fully relaxed, "Hey, Bakura." He managed placing a smile onto his face, "Felling Better?" he asked carefully, somewhat fearing a repeat of yesterday's incident; that had not been an easy one to explain to those that asked…

Yami Bakura tilted his head and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he spoke, "Ehe… Yes. Much better." He said before lowering his eyes regretfully, "I must apologize for yesterday Yugi… I haven't slept well as of late you see… I must have had an outburst. I hope you can forgive me…?"

"Oh," Yugi managed as he listened to Bakura's explanation, the partial albino's gaze low in very apparent shame. Yugi thought about the fact only a moment and quickly accepted the behavior was a total misunderstanding, "It's alright Bakura, i can forgive you." he said smiling brightly, his spirits lifting as Bakura looked up at him brightly, "Come on, we should head to class." He offered motioning to the building as the first bell sounded.

Yami Bakura smiled brightly and nodded, "Thank you! And right, let's go!" he said beaming as the two then began walking. Inwardly his smile was a very dark one; Yugi's overly friendly and trusting nature working the first step of his plan along perfectly,

In the depths of the Ring, watching with eyes as keen as a hawk, Akefia observed the whole spectacle carefully. The entire thing easily coming clear, 'Casting the line are we..?' he thought to himself quietly so as not to draw unwanted attention to himself. Giving an inaudible huff, he cast a glance towards Ryou's soul room, where Ryou was still held in sleep by the shadows, 'We're close…' he thought to himself. The Yami was doing his part… which was working in the Thief King's own plan; now all Akefia had left to do was wait.

Later at lunch, Yami Bakura made his way into the lunch room and glanced over the crowd only momentarily when he spotted Yugi where he normally sat. The Yami felt himself smirk broadly as he noted the small group sitting with him, this couldn't have been more perfect.

"Hey Yugi!" Yami Bakura said as he walked up to the group,

Yugi smiled as he looked up to him, "Oh hey Bakura,"

Yami Bakura nodded to the group who also welcomed his arrival before he continued speaking, "Hope the day is going well?"

At that, he noticed Yugi's smile seemed to waver into a more nervous one, "I'm fine, little worried about the math test, but I'm fine." He explained, to which his brunette friend named Anzu smiled and spoke up,

"I'm sure you did fine Yugi!" Anzu said reassuringly.

The larger male brunette, Honda laughed playfully as he jabbed his thumb to the blonde who was currently shoveling his lunch down, "Yeah, it's Jonouchi we should be worrying about."

Jonouchi twitched and partway choked midbite as he jerked his head up at the insult, "I didn't do THAT bad!" he growled insulted.

Yami Bakura laughed at the spectacle and nodded to Yugi, "I agree with Anzu. I'm sure you did well. Hopefully the scores will be posted after lunch," Yami Bakura paused a moment looking around as if pondering something before looking to Yugi once more, "Say, there was something I was wondering?"

Yugi nodded in agreement and then tilted his head questioningly, "What's that Bakura?"

Yami Bakura shifted as if a bit shy, "Well… I was wondering if you'd like to play a game with me after school tonight, it being a weekend and all." He then looked up smiling brightly to the others as they had stopped to listen, "If you all would like to come that would be even better!"

Yugi brightened distinctly at the offer; games of any sort were always of interest to him, more so if played with friends, "Sounds like fun Bakura! I'd love to go!" he exclaimed smiling excitedly.

Jonouchi perked as well and smiled, "Sounds like fun!"

"Count me in!" Honda nodded giving a thumbs up.

"Me too!" Anzu said beaming, ever more than happy to get to know a new friend.

"Excellent!" Yami Bakura exclaimed with a bright smile, "Then I'll be seeing you later today then! But for now… shall we finish lunch?" he offered.

Yugi and the gang gave a uniform nod and proceeded to eat, Jonouchi more than happy to oblige and preceded to resume shoveling food down, to which Honda merely shook his head at the mess he quickly made, Yami Bakura taking his seat and proceeded to eat, smirking inwardly as step two fell into place better than he'd hoped.

'Like a harp~~' he thought maliciously to himself as he watched the group eat and laugh, unaware of how little time they had left.

Later that afternoon, the final bell rang and allowed the students to go home, Jono, Honda and Anzu all filing out talking with one another. Yugi paused as he exited the school gate and looked to 'Ryou' as he adjusted his backpack, "We'll meet you at your apartment later Bakura!"

"I'll be waiting for you!" Yami Bakura replied smiling, waving back as Yugi ran to catch up to his friends. Yami Bakura turned, an evil grin on his face as he and walked towards his host's apartment, "I'll be waiting~~" he repeated, his voice dripping with icy venom.

Within his soul room, the shadows had finally dispersed and Ryou Bakura began to stir. Slowly he opened his eyes and blinked looking around, 'Mmm? What… Time is it?' he wondered aloud as his Yami entered the elevator.

The Yami smirked as he heard his host's poorly guarded thought and answered, "A little beyond four. And we have a bit of tidying up to do.~" he added as he exited and headed down the hall.

Ryou shifted and rolled over as if trying to get comfortable and return to his sleep at the comment and moaned slightly, 'Mn… can I clean my room tomorrow? I did it yesterday…' he pouted groggily.

A dark chuckle sent a chill down Ryou's spine as his Yami clicked his tongue at him, "Now, now Ryou… You have friends coming over. And we want the gameroom to be nice for their little game now don't we?~"

Ryou was immediately awake and sat up, his eyes wide as he mentally swallowed the lump in his throat, 'Oh…That's what's going on…' he thought, a wave of fear washing through him as he watched his Yami enter the gameroom and look it over, a twisted sense of glee radiating from him as he quickly began preparing the board, Ryou watching carefully through his little window and felt his heart sink as he worked without even a hitch in his movements, telling him he had already worked out the RPG fully in detail.

Finally, after several minutes of fine tuning, the Yami stood up straight and looked out at his handywork with pride, "Excellent~" he commented aloud before smirking down at the Ring to Ryou, "By the end of the day, we both get what we want.~"

Ryou released a startled gasp and tensed significantly, entirely bewildered by the comment, "How do I get anything out of this?!"

The Yami placed a hand on his hip and made a twisting gesture with his hand in mock astonishment at the question, "Why, You get to have all your new friends with you forever of course~."

Immediately Ryou stiffened and stood up angrily, "This isn't what I meant by that!" he shot back, furious by the Yami's cruel twist on an innocent wish he had made as a small child.

The Yami simply chuckled in response to the surge in emotions, "Oh? What better way could there be? They always have time for you and do as you wish like a loyal friend should be~" he said with a cruel laugh as he walked over to a closed dresser beneath his host's game computer. Ryou watched as his Yami opened the drawer containing the few dolls hosting the trapped souls of his old friends, took up a doll and dangled it mockingly before him, "See? He doesn't complain~" he added, letting the hapless doll bounce in his palm, chuckling as he did so.

"You monster…." Ryou managed stiffly as he stood shaking and fighting back tears of rage as he watched helplessly from within his soul room. His pained and angry thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of the doorbell and his emotions immediately shifted to worry as his Yami chuckled and looked up.

"Ah~ Game time~" the Yami mused aloud as he made his way to the door, "Ah, you made it! Come on in!" Yami Bakura exclaimed, his host's malice free persona once more adorned as he opened the door to his waiting guests.

Yugi gave a short lighthearted laugh at his friend's excited comment , "We said we'd come didn't we?"

Yami Bakura motioned the group in politely, smiling, "Indeed you did!"

"What kind of game are we playing anyway?" Jonouchi inquired curiously as Yami Bakura shut the door and addressed his guests.

"Ever played an RPG?" Yami Bakura inquired, to which Jonouchi shook his head, the others following suit.

"No, don't think I have." Jonouchi replied after only a moment of thought. Anzu however blinked and tilted her head.

"Will we be playing the video or tabletop version?" she inquired as Yami Bakura motioned the group to follow him.

"It's a bit of a combination really." he explained as he opened the door to the gameroom, revealing his game board, "You see, it is played on tabletop, but all features of the game are controlled by computer; Scores, effects...etc." he explained as he looked to the blonde, "I think you'll like it Jono. You select a character and make up a story for him and put him into a world controlled by the "master" of the set world."

It seemed simple enough, to which Jonouchi was happy for, lest he need to learn too many rules at once and risk looking a fool on his first go, "Sounds cool to me." he replied cheerfully.

Honda looked over the board, listening to the conversation before looking to Bakura, "You're going to be the master then?"

Yami Bakura grinned and nodded, "Yes. I've already set out an adventure plot, all that's needed now are the players!" with that he motioned to a glass display case where many of his host's new and unused character models sat, "If you want, go ahead and pick whichever one you like best."

At that, Yugi and his friends walked over to the case and proceeded to browse excitedly through the many characters within, Yami Bakura letting his lids droop lazily yet alertly, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he watched the unsuspecting fools make their selections. After several moments of chattering and playful banter amongst the group, each teen soon held a tiny figure in their hands, each holding some resemblance to themselves; Yugi held a Half-blood Elf Beast Tamer, Anzu an Elvish Magician, Honda a Human Magic Gunman and Jonouchi a Human Warrior.

Satisfied with their selections at last, each teen set their character onto the RPG board and took a seat, Yugi looked up to Bakura as he too took a seat at the far end of the table, "Alright, what's next Bakura?"

Yami Bakura took his seat and grinned at the players, motioning to the board, "We begin~"

Inside his soul room, Ryou swallowed hard and bowed his head in dismay as his Yami activated the computer and began the game.

After several minutes of gameplay, things moved on normally as the players moved further in, enjoying the game as they moved along with relative ease. The overall energy in the room a lighthearted one. But as the players moved along, they did not pay mind to the fact that Yami Bakura was carefully luring the gamers into a dark forest, where his smirk slowly became more and more visible the further the players got to his waiting trap, set into play as they agreed to help a robbed villager in exchange for his treasure.

Upon reaching the forest, the players were assaulted by a batch of monsters, to which they retaliated in turn. Jonouchi gave a victory cry as Anzu destroyed the last of the monsters, but Bakura grinned as he revealed the villager had in fact been his own player, the Dark Master Zorc.

Yami Bakura chuckled aloud, "Caught off guard I'm afraid. I get first attack~," he declared as he rolled his dice, a knowing grin on his face as he landed a super critical. He then looked up and gave the startled group a glance, "And I choose…Honda!~" with that, he made a forceful gesture to the startled brunette, the Ring beneath his shirt glowing with dark energy as it released a penalty game, the dark energy swiftly and effectively ripping Honda's soul out of his body before he could realize what was happening.

Honda blinked in confusion as the strange fleeting sensation vanished and looked around to see if the others felt it… but was shocked by the sight of his friends, now giants, as they looked down at him, "WHAT IN THE-"

A movement made Honda freeze and he turned to meet a sight that shook him to his core as a large demon glared down at him, "This isn't good…" he managed, voice shaking from shock as he stared up at The Dark Master Zorc.

Jonouchi blinked as he heard Honda's voice come from the board, effectively drawing him away from said friend, who had passed out suddenly, and leaned forward as he watched Honda's character move on its own. Seeing it was no illusion his mind swiftly put the impossible together, "How-How did that happen?!" he gasped as he watched Honda back away, eyes still trained on the demon before him.

"Honda!" Anzu cried, also seemingly catching on as she stared down at the board.

Yugi sat dumbfounded as he stared at the board, a creeping sensation beginning to climb its way up. Yugi flinched visibly as the sensation gripped his attention and forced him to look towards the white haired Game Master, "Bakura! What did you do!?" he cried.

Yami Bakura sat calmly, fingers intertwined in front of his face as he grinned back to the quickly panicking group, "Simply playing the game of course." He responded to the shorter male, who twitched in response, "Of course, this game isn't an ordinary RPG…It's a Shadow Game. The Ultimate in games where you not only play to win, you play with your very souls on the line~. In the case of a first fumble, your soul is transported into your doll. Lose…. And the doll is your new body!" he declared, his friendly smile replaced with a much colder and crueler smirk as the remaining teens looked on in shock. Anzu staring at him with a look of horror on her face as she listened.

'The rumors were true?!' she thought frantically. All the terrible tales of the sweet Ryou Bakura she had dismissed…. Had been true?!

Jonouchi stood up aggressively beside his fallen friend's body and growled as he tightened his fist, "Why are you doing this?!" he demanded.

Yugi however sat and listened carefully, despite his fear, made worse as what Bakura was describing sounded haunting, 'Shadow Game? That….sounds familiar.' He shuddered as disturbing images began to take shape in the blank portions of his recent memory.

Within the Ring, Ryou sat shuddering as he watched Honda fall… his soul now within a doll he himself had made, 'It's happening again…' he whimpered helplessly as he was forced to watch; he winced as his Yami began laughing in a mixture of amusement and twisted glee.

"Whaaat? Are you not having fun with your friend?~~" Yami Bakura mocked, casting a sidelong glance at the ever increasingly disturbed Yugi before addressing them all, "Oh, And by the way…. in a Shadow Game, once it begins, you can't back out. You do, and it's an automatic penalty and you lose either way~"

Ryou whimpered and hung his head, only to jump as a familiar voice suddenly whispered to him from the darkness around him, "Good…. The game has just begun, Boy. You want to save your friends? Now is the chance." The Thief King whispered carefully, his voice low as to not alert the Yami he was still not fully chained, "But wait for the proper moment… One slip up and you'll all go to hell."

Ryou perked as Akefia spoke, only to withdraw into himself again as he remembered his current position, 'W-what am I supposed to do? I can't even move…' he responded back, mentally wringing with his hands out of increasing worry.

Jonouchi shook in rage at Yami Bakura's comment and banged his fist on the table with an angry growl, "This isn't 'fun' you sick bastard!"

Ryou winced, a distinct pang piercing though him in the light that the comment was directed to him… Not only was Jonouchi going to be trapped… he'd be trapped believing that it was he himself who had done it, forever branding him a monster. The fact made his throat tighten as his shoulders fell…

Yugi remained sitting, his mind sharpening swiftly as he observed the Bakura that sat grinning at Jonouchi's comment… the grin he wore being so cruel and demonic, Yugi suddenly realized it was not just unlike Ryou, it COULDN'T be Ryou. It was at that same moment that what Bakura had said the day before came to mind and brought him to an electrifying realization, "That's not Ryou…" he whispered just loud enough that his friends caught it.

"What do you mean?" Anzu inquired, confused by her friend's comment. The look in Yugi's eyes as he looked to her told her that he meant every word.

"Just… Trust me and keep playing. It's not like we have a choice really anyway. Just keep going." He replied once more looking back to 'Bakura' fixatedly, his mind quickly scrambling for answers and a plan as Yami Bakura stared back at him for only a moment before once more looking to Jonouchi.

"Your move, if you wish to go out honorably~" he hissed, eyes gleaming with a sinister glint as Jonouchi slowly took his seat and picked up the dice, pausing as he looked towards Yugi with an uncertain look, to which Yugi nodded surely.

Akefia merely smirked and mentally placed a hand on Ryou's shoulder as they fell even further in wavering faith, once more whispering into his ear, "Watch… and wait.~"

Ryou blinked in surprise at the Thief King's unwavering confidence and slowly nodded resigning to trust the spirit, 'R-right…' he whispered, biting his lip as he watched Jonouchi cast his dice.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter~we'll be getting to some action soon Yugioh style and actual fighting O.O The game and story just started so stick around to see how Akefia plans to have Ryo help bring down the yami ;) **

**I'll be writing the next chapter so I'll try and get that done soon as possible!**

**Please follow/favorite & Review! It really helps keep us motivated!**


	4. Chapter 4 A Chance to Fight Back

**Almost to chapter 5~! I consider that a landmark ;) Me and Renagade are very happy with the turn out on this~! The RP is going great we're hitting the real good parts in Battle City~ so look forward to that I know we are looking forward to getting to the blimp XD**

**Renagade's DeviantArt account: RenagadeRexRider .deviantart .com**

**Renagade: Thief Bakura & Yami Bakura**

**Miss-DNL: Ryo, Yami, Yugi, Anzu, Jonouchi & Honda**

* * *

**Ba-Ku-Ra!  
By: Miss-DNL & RenagadeRexRider**

Chapter 4: A Chance to Fight Back

Yugi looked down at the Puzzle with a knowing look on his eyes before he glanced at Jonouchi. He felt a rock in his throat as his best friend tossed his dice. He knew there was nothing could do for him if the roll was bad; not with 'Bakura' watching closely. He gripped the leather strap of the Puzzle tightly, 'If anything happens...' the sensation seemed to acknowledge his thoughts and responded with a gentle reassuring tug.

The group watched tensely as Jonouchi's dice fell on the table. To Yugi and Anzu's dread, Jonouchi had rolled a fumble seeing his fate. To this Ryo's Yami laughed in a dark taunting manner, "Oh... too bad~, farewell Jono~." 'Bakura' said with a cruel grin and an icy tone. Just like with Honda the eye on the Ring lit up, and shadow magic attacked Jonouchi, taking his soul from his body and forcing him into what was to be his new body. All the while the Yami in control of Ryo's body laughed enjoying the misery he was causing.

Seeing Jonouchi sucked into the doll Yugi flinched visibly, before worry and panic could fully set in the tugging sensation in his mind appeared again calming him so he could think steadily. Yugi looked at the puzzle gratefully, doing this the incident from before was brought back to his mind. Steadying himself he looked back to 'Bakura', "We're not the one you're really after are we?" Hearing this Anzu casted Yugi a confused look, but Yugi's gaze stayed focused on their foe.

The Yami looks up from the laptop he was typing on to continue the story and huffs at Yugi's words, a smirk on his lips as he intertwined his thin fingers his piercing eyes just gazing passed them straight back into Yugi's, "Heheh~ Perceptive aren't we, little Yugi~?"

The cold intense gaze 'Bakura' was giving him seemed to push Yugi down making him nervous but the sensation in the back of his mind helped him face the foe again, "Considering what you said yesterday it wasn't too hard..." He replied, mentally sweat dropping as he remembered that over the top moment that had scared and confused him out of his wit.

Hearing the mention of his embarrassing outburst made the Yami's eyes flash in clear rage. His lips pulled back in a snarl, "Shut your mouth you impudent brat!" Recomposing himself he slowly growls, "Make your move..."

For a moment Yugi was caught off guard by his sudden burst of anger but manages to hold steady, "I will, but it won't be me." Yugi declared, 'Bakura' eyeing him sharply but said nothing to it. Looking back to the Puzzle in his hands before looking back up, his voice determined this time, Yugi continued, "You want to fight the 'other' me. I'll give you what you want; but first," Yugi looked down at the board at Jonouchi and Honda who looked back at him, "put me in my figure!" Anzu looked to her friend both astonished and startled by his declaration. "I'll fight with my friends, I trust my other half."  
In the Ring Ryo felt a pang of jealously that Yugi could put so much trust in his other half.

Though she wasn't really sure what he was thinking Anzu followed her friend's lead thinking he had a plan, "Same with me!"

From within the Ring, Ryo looked out through his little portal with an expression of sheer shock, 'What are they doing!?' Akefia, watching with him, blinks surprised by the development but keeps silent, level minded and waits to see what they're up to.

Across the table 'Bakura' looked just as surprised, gritting his teeth at the little uprising before smirking in a dark manner, "If that is your wish~ Very well..." The Yami strikes them both with the penalty, their souls entering their dolls. With that done he looks towards Yugi's body expectantly with a dark glare waiting for his real target to emerge.

As he expected, Yugi's body sat up again sitting tall in the simple chair almost regally with his arms crossed and a frown on his face as he looked to 'Bakura'. "I didn't think I'd ever face another spirit with shadow powers...can't say I'm happy about the occasion." He said dully looking at the opposing Yami feeling nothing more than contempt for what he was doing to his host and his friends. Looking down at the board he saw Yugi looking up at him, both felt relief to see each other and Yugi's Yami nodded to him reassuring him that everything would be okay.

Seeing this development, Honda looked from one Yugi to the other with a confused look plastered on his figure's face, "There were two of you?" He asked sounding dumbfounded.

"Eheh, I'll explain later..." Yugi said warily with a sweat drop sliding down his face, this was something he'd kept from his friends for a good while and it was going to be difficult to explain, but he trusted his friends to take it well.

Once again Ryo felt a pang of envy hit him, 'That's his Yami...' He thought as he looked out at the other spirit controlling Yugi's body in his stead. Yugi's Yami was calm, collected, kind and caring while his, while also being calm and collected, was cruel and sadistic…

A shiver of anger went through the Thief King as he instantly recognized the other Yami, there was no mistaking it whatsoever, it was his most hated enemy. Akefia calmed himself baring his mind to his current focus, defeating Ryo's Yami. 'Indeed... The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle... let us hope he's as good as his legend persists...' He said stiffly keeping his hatred and anger to himself for the moment.

Ryo mentally blinked when he felt a prickle of anger go through the link between him and the thief causing him to 'turn' his head to Akefia, or at least where he felt his voice was coming from, 'Something wrong?'

The Thief King glanced at the boy before huffing bluntly, 'Nothing you need concern yourself with for now.' With that Ryo dropped the subject in turn for focusing on his friends.

The Yami controlling Ryo's body smirked slightly amused by the other Yami, "Funny..." He began before his tone became more dangerous but still keeping a mock friendly overtone, "I'd not have it any other way~. Let us proceed, shall we~?" 'Bakura' said gesturing at the board towards where all the figures were congregated.

Yami Yugi smirked picking up the diced bouncing them around on the palm of his hand. "We shall, I believe it was my move? I'll be rolling for each of them after all." He pointed out motioning to the four hero figures his friends were stuck on with his finger.

The Dark Master laughed lightly, "So you shall. Go ahead... bring them to their deaths~." He said darkly looking at his much stronger and higher level character, Zorc. There was no possible way for a group of level one adventurers, or heroes to defeat his Dark Master character. He had set the whole thing up to be so. His victory was well assured. All he had to do was sit back and wait.

Ignoring 'Bakura's' goading Yami Yugi looks to his host and speaks to him for the first time through the link, 'Ready?'

Yugi perks hearing him in his mind and nods curtly, 'Yeah, but he keeps pulling super zero critical...' He thought dreading the one hit kill.

Yugi's Yami leveled his gaze glancing at the Dark Master, he should have guessed he'd use such tricks, 'He is, is he? Don't worry. I can level things a bit.' He reassured before rolling his dice to initiate Yugi's move getting a super critical to tame the Zorc Arm Dragon. The roll after that with Anzu he rolled another super critical to deal damage to Zorc himself and a monster which was destroyed in the magic blast. The spirit looked to the other Yami with a knowing gaze and a smirk on his lips as he saw a stunned expression come over 'Bakura's' face.

"What's this!?" He stops for a moment seeing the look on his opponent's face and realizes what's going on, "Ah... So you know of the technique as well?" 'Bakura' said flatly, he grits his teeth momentarily but then replaces it with a forced accepting smirk, "Very well..." He said slowly, "From now on," He let his dice drop from his hand demonstrating the new rule on how to cast the dice, "No more spinning the die and we cast the die as such...Agreed?"

Hearing and seeing this Akefia chuckled amusedly enjoying seeing the Yami forced to play fairly, 'Forced his hand already? Hahah! There is hope for your friends yet it seems, Boy...' He said to the white haired host. Hearing this good news Ryo smiles slightly feeling a little more hopeful, but suppresses his emotions to avoid being detected by the Yami.

The spirit of the Puzzle smirked, now the playing field was evened out a little, "Very well," He agreed before frowning slightly keeping a close eye on the Dark Master, "your move…'Bakura'." He crosses his arms not liking having to call the monster the same name as Yugi's kind hearted friend, 'I'll get you out of this don't worry partner.' He thought reassuringly to Yugi who nodded showing that he had heard him.

After Zorc fled to his castle the adventurers chase after him getting trapped in a tower. During which Yami Bakura summons Zorc nearly claiming victory over the heroes when the tables suddenly turned on him. Despite the situation the Dark Master smirks deviously to himself, 'Think you have me on the run? Sorry...but here is where you all will meet your fate~!' he thought as he glanced down at a hidden set of mind dice, dice with a fragment of his soul guaranteed to get super criticals by his will alone, 'and with these~ Victory is assured~~' He chuckled to himself.

Throughout the whole game Akefia had been watching carefully and winces at the development picking up on the Yami's plan, 'DAMN...eh?' He thought confusedly as he suddenly picked up on something strange in the Ring's power, 'what is this...?.' Akefia thinks to himself, trying to figure it out. Pin pointing it he realizes it's a weak point in the ring's power, 'what is...wait... of course!' With this information he whispers to Ryou, 'Boy... This bastard is about to throw another cheap shadow trick into the mix... I can't move like you...' He whispers much to his chagrin, loathing the fact he was unable to act himself, 'and you must act quickly! When Zorc was injured earlier, it affected this bastard's hold on chaining you out. The chain on your left arm is no longer there... it's not much. But you can control it now! If he lands that attack correctly, this game is lost!' He warned urgently, if the others lost that meant both he and Ryo were stuck with the sadistic tyrant for who knows how terribly long.

Hearing this Ryo snaps up to attention with the urgent desire to help his friends, 'feeling' his left arm he looks surprised when he feels a response from his physical body, 'Right.' Immediately he gets an idea of how to help. While 'Bakura' is distracted with his gloating Ryo quietly took control of his hand as his Yami reached for his mind dice and grabs the regular dice in their stead as his Yami glanced up at his opponent…. The following roll landing a lucky high number causing a bad fumble for Zorc.

On the other side of the board the spirit of the Puzzle blinks noticing the odd movement in 'Bakura's' movement but says nothing.

'Bakura' is shocked when Zorc fumbles allowing the others go first instead of him, 'WHAT?! What is this?! Th-these aren't my mind dice!?' He growled as he took up the dice in his right hand, gritting his teeth furiously trying to figure out what had gone wrong, 'what the hell happened?!' He screamed in his mind.

Akefia grins broadly pleased with seeing the Yami get so frustrated and angry over the fumble.

Ryo, feeling so exhilarated that he 'feels like his heart is racing', smiles feeling a bit more confident about succeeding before quickly returning back to the reality of the situation and releases control of the arm so that his Yami doesn't notice he had taken back control of it.

Yugi's Yami smirked, "Well, looks like it's our turn since you missed, the adventures gain a sneak attack as their much faster." He says as he rolls the dice landing criticals and a few super criticals dealing plenty of damage to the Dark Master's character. "Zorc isn't looking too good 'Bakura'." He mocked to the other Yami.

Growling angrily 'Bakura' glares down at the regular dice in his hand, 'What the fuck happened? I'm certain that I had the mind dice... how did I manage to pick up the wrong dice?' Getting a sneaking suspicion he grips them angrily in hand like he was attempting to crush them out of anger. 'Did HE have something to do with this...? No, no he can't know of this...' The Yami thought with a glare at his opponent. He then smirks looking down at the board remembering he had set it up to make it impossible for the heroes to win over his Zorc, "Feh, it makes little difference. My chances are well beyond 100, and on this turn you will all be obliterated!" he replied, grinning he prepares to throw the dice for his move.

Akefia grits his teeth at the situation seeing no time to come up with a thought out plan, 'BOY! Use the mind dice right now! If he lands anything but a fumble they'll die!'

Reacting quickly and immediately to his prompting, Ryo takes up the mind dice tossing them quickly as he could. The dice react to Ryo's mind giving Zorc another fumble. Ryo relaxes a little seeing the fumble go through and hastily releases control of his hand once again.

By now the spirit of the Puzzle gets a vague idea of what's going on and smirks deciding to taunt the opposing Yami to distract him, "What's going on 'Bakura'? Is karma catching up to you? Regardless it's our turn again." Rolls the dice again having Anzu heal the group of their damage then starts dealing more damage to the boss getting a super critical with Honda.

'Bakura' gasps in fury as his left hand cast a pair of dice, Zorc then fumbling and grasps his left hand tightly his frame shaking at the rage he felt, 'WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!' He roared in his mind while he grinds his teeth at the damage dealt, 'Why did the mind dice-' His eyes flashed in fury, there was only one reason his hand and the mind dice would turn on him… 'RYOU BAKURA! Are you doing this?!' He demanded yelling out his anger at his host.

Akefia feels an rough push in energy and tenses from the force 'shit...!' He cursed, they had been found out…

Feeling and hearing his Yami's rage Ryo's confidence seemed to have vanished into nothing as he cowered in fear of his dark half, 'H-how can I do anything!?' He whimpered pitifully.

Seeing the Dark Master's sudden and obvious spike in anger the spirit of the Puzzle raises a brow wondering what was going on. "Well? Are you going to move? Or are you forfeiting your turn?" He questioned bluntly.

Using the shadow energy the dark spirit of the Ring forces Ryo into the corner where he had gained control. 'I don't know HOW you did it...' He growled seething in anger, 'and I don't care! But,' He turned his burning gaze to a pointed tower grinning viciously, 'you will NOT interfere again!' He rams his left hand down over the castle spire impaling the hand blood dripping out onto the castle tower. The Yami then begins laughing cruelly, almost if enjoying the pain, "Let's see you try that again, Landlord, HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed aloud a crazed manic look in his eyes no longer caring if he revealed that he was in fact not Ryo Bakura at this point.

Ryo let out a loud yelp in the space he had now been shoved into gripping his spirit forms hand feeling the pain of the part of his physical body he still had control of. It was a sharp burning pain that couldn't be ignored. Still in hopes of avoiding his insane Yami's wrath further he whimpers quietly to himself cradling his injured hand.

Akefia tenses distinctly seeing what the Yami did to Ryo's hand and shoving him into the corner of his soul room, 'BOY!' Thinking to himself he mutters, 'Damn it... there was no time to react... fuck...Damn it...,' He cursed stiffly wracking his mind trying to find a solution to the problem before it was too late, 'if he seals Ryou ... there won't be a way to stall Yami anymore and this game is over...' The Thief King looked out as the Yami pulled his hand off the spire and held it with his other then he looked at Zorc who was missing a hand. Slowly a grin came over his face, 'There's a way...'

With a contorted cruel grin he addressed the other Yami, though traces of pain were seen on his expression he ignored it, while his hand continue to bleed out, "Now..." He started in a twisted version of causal talk, "I believe you have one turn left... Beast Tamer Yugi is it not?" He questioned looking down at the Yugi like prey. He could almost taste victory now that he had taken care of his host properly.

Thinking to himself Akefia silently urged the other spirit to pick up on what he found out, 'Come on! Do it!'

The spirit of the Puzzle sitting straight up due to sheer shock of what the Dark Master had done to his host's body, though shock quickly turned to anger for the action. 'He's insane!' He thought to himself seeing him chuckle to himself like an insane asylum patient. He put the thought aside to think about what he was going to do for his move, 'I need to think carefully I only have a move left I can't afford to mess it up!' Humming slightly he looks at Zorc particularly the missing hand, 'Zorc reflects him so...' Getting an idea he smirks, "I'm going to use Yugi's ability on Zorc to free our friend. He does mirror you after all." Ignoring Bakura's boasting of his wasted turn, he rolled the dice landing the super critical he needed. Yugi then used his monster training gloves on the Dark Lord Zorc, who laughed at his attempt when smoke began billowing from the stump where Zorc's left hand had been and pulled out a white wizard that was Ryo's Monster World character.

Overjoyed Anzu and the other rushed over to help Ryo up as he had been gently laid on the ground, "It worked!" She exclaimed as he got up.

White Wizard Ryo smiles cheerfully as he looked at all his friends, "Thanks for freeing me! I'd love to join your party!" He requested following the rules of the game and gave a slight head bow.

"The more the better!" Honda cheered giving Ryo a pat on the back.

"Alright a new ally!" Jonouchi cheered loudly now feeling more confident about defeating Zorc than he had before.

* * *

**Things are really starting to get heated in the RPG! Yami Bakura isn't down just yet though! What will happen to Akefia when the game is over!?**

**Renagade is writing the next chapter I'll get it posted soon as she's done :)**

**Please follow/favorite & Review! It really helps!**


	5. Chapter 5 Final Gamble: All or Nothing

**Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter which is written by Renagade~! This is a really good one hope you enjoy!**

**Renagade's DeviantArt Account: RenagadeRexRider. deviantart. com**

**Renagade: Thief Bakura & Yami Bakura**

**Miss-DNL: Ryo, Yugi, Yami, Anzu, Honda & Jonouchi**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Final Gamble: All or nothing**

Akefia immediately released hold of the straining energy he had pulled back from the damaged point of the Ring which had allowed Ryou his "freedom", 'Good play momentary ally…' he thought to himself as he glared at the 'opposing' Yami across the table. Thankfully, Yugi's Yami had acted accordingly to Akefia's newfound plan and removed Ryou from their Yami's impending wrath; now looking out at the gameboard where his Host stood defiantly he couldn't help but grin, 'That should help.' He thought as he felt himself trying to recover.

The act of diverging enough energy from the already weakened area had been no small feat, even for the split few seconds it took for Ryou to be effectively "freed" undetected, it had left him feeling far more drained than he'd initially thought it would. Shifting ever so slightly within his shadowy binds, Akefia couldn't help but smirk at the fact that the Yami had been so preoccupied with mocking his adversary that he had not taken notice of his prisoner's stealthy grip on his shadow energy's flow, the Yami's immediate astonishment at the new development of his Host suddenly appearing on the board allowed him all the distraction needed to release the energy without being detected. Akefia smirked; even bound he was still the cunning King of Thieves.

Yami Bakura's eyes were wild and wide open in shock as he stared down at the new figure on the board, "What is this?!" he hissed through tightly gritted teeth, his voice shaking in rage, "How the hell did you get out?!"

From across the table, Yami Yugi's laugh made Yami Bakura twitch in anger, "Like I said, Zorc mirrors you, so through him I pulled Ryou out." He stated maintaining his regal composure, a grin on his lips, "This is a Shadow Game after all, many things are possible."

Yami Bakura's eyes burned in pure rage as he glared at his opponent, How DARE this bastard mock him with his own game?! How DARE he remove his piteous excuse of a serfling host in the median of his deserved chastening for daring to defy him?! Yami Bakura shook in his seat, his stomach in such violent turbulence of wrath that it threatened to retch up hellfire.

From the game board Ryou held his head high as he could muster and looked to his Yami face to face, "I'm tired of suffering because of you! I'll help them defeat you!" he called defiantly, his voice determined in the light that he was now free to fight with the help of his friends.

Yami Bakura turned his frenzied and venomous glare towards the voice of his Host, 'You… little….' He thought stiffly, blinded by anger. The mere sight of his serfling host looking at him with such an insolent and defiant look served to send him onto the brink of blind wrath, the thought to reach out and crush his figure along with himself into dust sent a shiver of delight through him but only a moment… but in the light of that thought alone he dug up a far more hellish delight and a crooked grin crawled onto his face as he straightened himself, "Very well. As you so wish it… But let me tell you your fate now that you have joined the Shadow Board," he hissed each word sliding off his tongue with a lethal calm as he waved his right hand as if holding up the prize, "In the event that you win… any and all of the friends of those bound into figures will be released back to their original bodies…. But if you lose…," he said with a heinous grin as he lowered his right hand and raised his left, tightening his grip so tight that the flows of blood from his injury increased and fell freely onto the desk and parts of the already bloodied game board, "They will all be sealed away in their chosen dolls as planned…. But you?" he hissed, his grin making Ryou's very soul shiver in distress, "I'll see to it that you never see the light of day again, and I'll KEEP this body "Landlord", Hehehehehe~"

Akefia grit his teeth from the confines of the Ring, the waves in the Yami's fury forcing him to cringe by the sheer weight they possessed; The Yami's demonic cunning almost suffocating in comparison, so much so Akefia felt the weight of the situation in full. This was a final gamble…

Yami Yugi scowled at his opponent as he threatened his friends, Ryou clearly wavering in the shadow of the demented Yami's display, "That's IF you win," he interjected, drawing the Yami's attention, "And I won't let you. I've done my turn, it's you-"

Ryou, spirit's lifted by Yami Yugi's confident words shook off his fears as he realized his new edge in the game and quickly piped up before his chance was missed, "No it isn't, I'm faster than him, I get to go." He said looking to a questioning Yami Yugi, "I may have joined your group, but I'm an NPC. I move on my own and don't need anyone to roll for me. I'll use my turn to raise everyone's defenses," he explained turning to his friends on the board, nodding as he pointed his staff at his friends immediately casting his spell raising their defenses sharply, "No more one hit kills." He said with a bright smile as his friends perked up excitedly.

Yami Bakura gave a frustrated growl as his Host cancelled his swift victory… or had he? Yami Bakura then smiled and began laughing as he took up the dice, "My turn then…~~"

As Yami Bakura laughed aloud, Zorc too began laughing as his form suddenly began to warp, Bakura and his friends watching in horror as Zorc's appearance became skeletal and far more demonic as he shifted shape before them. Once completed, the demon glared down at them like a hungry wolf amongst frightened sheep,

"Behold, Zorc's final form and the instrument of your demise fools! Not only does his level increase… he gets another attack~" Yami Bakura boasted, a gleeful smirk twisting his features once more, "It's over…" he declared as Zorc stood up, a small opening on his chest opening wide, revealing an eye glowing with pulsating energy.

Akefia's eyes widened in alarm as the eye began to glow more intense, 'This is too intense even for me!' he thought frantically trying to find some way to halt the impending doom, there was no way the players could survive that blow, they could barely survive the other form!

Staring up at the impending attack, Ryou began to think swiftly; there had to be a way to stop this attack! The attack was charging, but his friend's characters were not fast enough to escape the assault. Ryou blinked, 'He just did his turn, I'm the fastest in the group, I have a chance to save them!' Immediately he jumped in front of his friends and raised his staff just as Zorc fired the dreaded attack; despite the gasp and cries of his friends, Ryou forced himself to remain strong and cast a strong shield spell, halting Zorc's attack. The force was unbelievably strong, and Ryou quickly found himself using his character's health points to keep his wavering shield up. For a brief moment as he neared his final health points, he feared it wouldn't be enough… but then to his great relief, Zorc's attack finally ceased,

"I…I did it." he managed, his voice shaking from both panic and relief before he collapsed. Yugi and the others quickly caught him as he fell, smiling gratefully,

"Bakura, You did it!" Yugi praised as he helped to steady his weakened friend.

Ryou smiled faintly at him, "I did…. But you need to hurry," he responded looking back to Zorc, gasping as he saw the eye was still visible, but was quickly closing, "That's… his weak point," Ryou managed quickly pointing to the eye, "Hit it and we'll win."

Yami Yugi blinked and quickly took up the dice, grinning at the info, "Got it. Looks like we win 'Bakura'." Yami Yugi said smugly as he cast the dice for Anzu; to everyone's excitement, the die rolled a super critical and they all watched as Anzu cast a devastating blow, a cloud of dust billowing where Zorc once stood prompting Anzu, Yugi, Jonouchi and Honda to rejoice… But Ryou and Yami Yugi's expressions became weary as they observed Yami Bakura's knowing grin; his laugh forcing everyone to go silent as he waggled his finger at them mockingly,

"Not so fast now~" he chuckled as he then motioned to the board. To everyone's shock, Zorc, although severely damaged, was still very much alive and soon once more stood snarling down at the players viciously for their disrespect.

"You forget the increase in his level. Even with your combined efforts, he is still standing." Yami Bakura grinned savagely in glee as he continued, "That will cost you all your lives~~ Come next turn, you'll all be trapped forever! GAHAHAH!"

Akefia tensed angrily as he sensed a distinctive energy form and immediately knew what the Yami intended to do, 'The bastard…' he growled to himself. Unable to escape his confines, Akefia growled at his own plan… but he was out of time and had no options. There was no other way…

'Boy!' Akefia called through a small tether of stolen shadow energy, 'Yami is about to tamper with his dice! I have a plan… But it's risky as hell and it can only work if you agree to it.'

Ryou was far too tired from his exertion to even feel surprised as he heard Akefia's voice echoing in his head. Rather than attempt to question he simply listened to the Spirit and perked at both his urgency and his offer… Sensing no time, Ryou resolved to listen and accept without further inquiry, 'Tell me, whatever it takes I can't let him win.' He responded through the mental tether.

Akefia immediately began to explain as he too began bracing himself, 'He's about to transfer a piece of his soul into the die to land a critical… you have to get in there and fight it off yourself. I have just enough in me to hold an opening for you, just long enough for you to get in with him.' he explained readying the stolen tether to jerk Ryou back into himself for the plan to work, 'If you miss this chance Boy… You're all dead.' He added, waiting tensely for the boy's response.

Ryou didn't even hesitate, 'I'll do it.'

Akefia blinked in momentary surprise before he grinned and swiftly allowed the tether to drag him back in, 'Alright…'

Yami Bakura, now focused on his dice, oblivious to the return of his host, grinned maliciously as he activated the Ring, 'Now… I'll form my Offshoot Dice!' he mused to himself as he began pulling energy from the core of the Millennium Ring, making Akefia wince faintly as the shadows momentarily constricted him in response.

Akefia felt the energy's direction and swiftly locked into it as the Yami's soul fragment slithered through; immediately he gathered all the strength he had left for himself and held the small opening open, 'NGH! NOW BOY!' he cried out to Ryou, his grip failing faster as the Shadow's continued to constrict him.

Not willing to let his possibly last chance slip away, Ryou scrambled for the opening and dived through, the opening vanishing as Akefia's grip finally gave out. Righting himself, Ryou looked around his new surroundings within the dice and almost immediately spotted his Yami's soul fragment, an ugly thing that was slinking its way to its goal.

Ryou winced and quickly rushed at it, 'No you don't!' he cried out as he made contact with the Soul Fragment, tackling it roughly to the 'ground', effectively confusing it.

Outside the dice, Yami Bakura grinned as his dice were completed and prepared to cast them, pausing only to look up and grin cruelly at his opponent, "This turn, we both roll. Winner claims the first attack and victory…" he smirked, knowing full well that the game was already won, "If I win, I will have Zorc self-destruct and take them ALL out with him, and I win!" he mused, his eyes glinting eagerly.

Within the dice, the Soul Fragment, being made for only a single purpose and therefore lacking in creative intelligence was caught off guard by the sudden assault and began quarreling with the intruder. Ryou, now retaliating with the instincts of an ancient fighter, acted accordingly and managed to grab one of the Soul Fragment's arms and twisted it harshly behind the Soul Fragment's back hindering it before he began striking it hard with his free hand; to his surprise, the Soul fragment seemed to buckle under his assault, encouraging Ryou to fight harder.

Yami Bakura gripped his dice and commandingly addressed his opponent, "FINAL ROLL YUGI! Let this roll decide the fate of our souls~" he laughed as he cast his dice into the air.

"Very well!" Yami Yugi called, gripping them confidently before also letting his dice fly.

Akefia, still worn from the exertion and the tether now gone, was unable to commune with Ryou any longer and could only grit his teeth as the die flew, nothing notable having declared any favorable news, 'Come on Boy, I know you have some fight in you… Fight hard!' he thought frantically.

Ryou winced as the Soul Fragment became more desperate to free itself, slashing fiercely at him in attempt to free itself, no doubt trying to fulfill its purpose. The sudden pain of the attack only roused Ryou's pent up frustrations towards the evil spirit; his anger, pain and hatred for his cruel tormentor fueling him harder than before, "I won't…Let. You. WIN!" he shouted fiercely as he struck the Soul Fragment once more.

Yami Bakura watched the dice fly, completely unaware of the struggle within the dice, an insane grin on his face over his immanent victory as Yugi's dice rolled to a stop. His eyes lit up hysterically as he observed a double zero, a super critical, 'HAHAHA! Oh so perfect! Watch your hope die!' he thought hysterically to himself, struggling to contain his bursting glee.

Within the Offshoot dice, the Soul Fragment sensed its moment as the dice hit the table. Fighting with a sudden burst of energy, the Soul Fragment struck Ryou a stunning blow, allowing the Fragment the chance to struggle away and take hold of its purpose… on the table, the die came to rest…. A super critical.

Akefia winced as the die landed, 'Fuck!' he managed to himself as the Yami finally allowed his sheer elation free, his cruel mocking laughter chilling everyone in the room, "OH HOW CRUEL! The fate of your little friends slipped right through your fingers~ AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Akefia stared, teeth gritted, shaking in anger, 'Damn it…. DAMN IT! So damn close…..' Akefia bowed his head, unwilling to accept the fact that he'd lost… that the one chance they had had failed… if only the Yami had just….

Akefia froze and his head perked up, his mind racing, 'Wait… if the die now contains part of his own soul…' his eyes widened in realization, 'And it's on the board! THIS GAME ISN'T OVER! He just made a fatal mistake! Boy…' he pleaded furiously as he looked out at the dice, the Yami's own desperate move to save himself now their final hope for victory, 'For the love of every god in existence…. Keep fighting like hell!'

Inside the dice, Ryou recovered as a cold chill seized him; something bad had happened. He could feel it… Gritting his teeth at the Soul Fragment, he got back up and attacked once more, striking the entity dead center with in another tackle, "If I'm going down… I'm taking you with me!"

The Soul Fragment, already weakened from its earlier attacks, began weakening much faster as Ryou began fighting back striking it blow after blow in any way he could manage. The Fragment, now bound to the dice and not made to endure such an assault, then began shattering; cracks developing wherever Ryou struck.

Ryou gazed in wonder at the phenomenon, 'There's still a chance!' he gasped with a renewed wave of hope.

"It's over Yugi! Now watch as Zorc destroys himself and sends all your little friends to…." Yami Bakura paused as he suddenly sensed a disturbance, then winced as he heard the faintest sound, like something cracked. Immediately his attention dropped down to the RPG Board and he visibly flinched as he noticed a distinctive disturbance on the surfaces of both die, 'What… What the hell is this?' he questioned frantically as the disturbances began spreading, 'Cracks in my Offshoot dice?'

Ryou, breathing heavily clenched his fist at the now twitching entity that refused to move any more. This was it! Drawing up all the energy and faith he had, he swung one final blow at the Soul Fragment's heart. The effect was immediate and the Fragment shattered on contact… the dice themselves exploding into dust from the sudden expulsion of energy inside. Ryou, blown out and immediately by the force, was drawn back into his game character by the still present Shadow game, gasping as he felt his player's exhaustion return full tilt.

Yami Bakura's eyes widened in total alarm as his dice shattered before his eyes, his pupils constricted into tiny pinpricks in his mortified shock, "N-…no! HOW?! NO!" he stammered. No. it couldn't be! How had this happened!? A good portion of his SOUL had been in that dice! That acted as a secondary player for himself... And now it was…

Yami Yugi, surprised by the event but just as grateful, grinned, "I don't see the dice 'Bakura', therefor you lost your roll!" he smirked as he saw 'Bakura's' furious expression turn to one of complete alarm at the realization, "We get the finishing blow! And I landed a Super Critical."

Anzu quickly raised her staff and a surge of power erupted forth and down onto the hapless Dark Monster Zorc who was immediately engulfed by the inferno, shrieking in furious pain as he was blown away to nothing.

Yami Yugi smirked at his visibly shaken opponent, "We Win!"

Yami Bakura shook his head in pure disbelief, unable to speak, breathing out of control in a titanic mix of fury and possible fear as the last portion of his represented soul was annihilated before his eyes, his mind in a tangle as he tried to make sense of it all. He…. HAD LOST?! No. NO! He couldn't have lost! It was IMPOSSIBLE! HOW? HOW?! It was all going to plan! HOW?!

"AAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a violent and unearthly shriek ripped from 'Bakura's throat as the Shadow Game turned on him, the Shadows rushing to claim their promised prize, not caring for the Yami's plans in the least and initiated the Penalty he himself had forged.

The Shadows disappeared, dragging their prize down deep into the darkness, silencing his wrathful screams at last as the Shadow Game finally lifted, the figurines on the RPG board going still and emotionless just as the sound of snapping leather was accompanied by a hollow metallic clatter as the Millennium Ring struck the floor.

A weak murmur drifted from Ryou's lips as he slowly opened his eyes; his body and mind feeling beyond exhausted. His soul, although feeling the strain as well, rejoiced in the light of its regained freedom, bringing a weak smile to Ryou, 'I won…'

"Bakura!" Anzu cried as she finally sat up, finally returned safely to her body. Immediately she was on her feet and rushed to the white haired boy's side, gently placing her hand on his shoulder in worry, "Are you ok?"

Jonouchi and Honda, also returned to their bodies stood and rushed over to him as he slowly sat up, "Yeah, you don't look so good." Jonouchi commented noting Ryou's drained and even paler than normal appearance.

Ryou gave a weak laugh, "I'm just worn out." He insisted as he took a grateful breath, "A good rest and I'll be fine."

Blinking slowly, his smile faded away and he bowed his head in regret, "I'm sorry you guys went through all that because of me…" he whispered.

Yami Yugi, still in control of Yugi's body for the moment, Yugi himself watching on from within his soul room in relief, approached Ryou and smiled at him reassuringly, "Don't worry about it Bakura. We all got out alright, and you're free from that evil spirit. It all worked out in the end." He said giving him a thumbs up.

Ryou smiled weakly but happily at the uniform nod they all gave him, "Thank you, all of you." He managed beyond grateful as he pulled himself to his feet. A faint bump against his heel drew his attention down, blinking he bent down and came back up, the Ring in his hand.

Everyone immediately recoiled at the sight of the Ring, and shifted uncomfortably. Honda shuddered and cleared his throat nervously, "Maybe you should get rid of that thing… just in case." He added hintingly.

To everyone's shock, Ryou shook his head in response, "I can't. My father gave it to me. If he found it gone, he'd be crushed." He explained looking to his friends before smiling reassuringly, "Besides, the spirit is gone. I'll be fine."

Looking back to the Ring he gazed at it perturbedly, 'Also, it wouldn't be fair to him… if he's still there.' He thought to himself. Setting the Ring down he turned to his friends and smiled, "You guys could use some rest after all of that. I'll show you out."

Everyone nodded in agreement and said their goodbyes as they headed out the door, each in profound relief that they had made it out as Ryou shut the door behind them. Ryou drew a long relieved sigh as he let himself fall onto the couch closing his eyes slowly, 'It's only been a few minutes… and I feel like a weight has lifted off my shoulders…'

Many days drew by and life had begun to return to normal. Everyone that had been imprisoned by the Evil Yami's Shadow Games had finally awakened unharmed; each without memory of what had happened to them. Ryou himself was by far the most happy, finally his mind was able to rest knowing that all of his friends were free at last, his game room now empty of prisoners.

Currently, Ryou sat at his desk quietly finishing the last bits of his homework, his mountain of makeup work finally removed allowing him to finally begin relaxing. After finishing the last of his work, Ryou stretched and glanced towards the edge of his desk and paused. There sitting on the edge of his desk was Millennium Ring.

Ryou sat staring at it for a long moment before looking to his still healing wound on his hand and then reluctantly down to where his Yami had 'bonded' the ring to him. Slowly he sighed and shook his head anxiously, 'I haven't heard or see it do anything…' he thought slowly to himself; after the last Shadow Game, the Ring had not done anything at all, just sat quietly wherever he set it. For obvious reasons Ryou had been afraid to do anything beyond picking it up, but still yet another worry picked at him conflicting him every time he looked at the thing, 'Maybe since Akefia was attached to Yami, he got pushed out too.'

Looking back to the Ring he sighed and bit his lip. Slapping his hands onto his desk with a reluctant sigh, he took up the Ring and headed into his game room straight towards his work desk in the corner where he pulled out a long strip of brown leather fabric he used for his figures and made a loop for the Ring.

Ryou paused as he held the Ring in his hands, his heart in his throat as he stared at the glinting item as if it was daring him mockingly, 'I may be crazy for doing this… or it's just be a piece of jewelry now…' he mused as gulped down the throbbing lump in his throat.

Ryou continued to stare at the Item for a few more heart stopping moments before he slowly, very slowly, raised the Ring over his head and reluctantly let it settle over his heart, which was racing uncomfortably in his chest as he awaited the impending maniacal laughter that was now echoing in his mind…

* * *

**Its far from over yet! Who's in the Ring? Is anyone in there at all? Get ready we'll be hitting Duelist Kingdom soon~!**

**I'm on chapter duty now~! I'll get that up soon as possible ;)**

**Please Follow/Favorite & Review! It really helps guys!**


	6. Chapter 6 A New Enemy: The Shadow Eye

**Here's the start of the Duelist Kingdom Arc~! This chapter was written by me with some editing done by Renagade :) hope you enjoy soon thing will really start picking up and focusing more on Ryo as a main character.**

**Also a note. I prefer using the name Ryo and Renagade prefers Ryou just to be clear if the switching between chapters gets annoying or confusing let me know.**

**Renagade's DeviantArt account: RenagadeRexRider .Deviantart .com**

**Renagade: Thief Bakura**

**Miss-DNL: Ryo, Yugi, Yami, Honda, Anzu, Grandpa, Jonouchi & Pegasus**

* * *

**Chapter 6: A new Enemy: The Shadow Eye**

The laughter seemed to fade from Ryo's mind as he stood by his work desk. For a moment Ryo thought the Ring was empty, no spirits dwelling inside it just a normal piece of flashy jewelry. Ryo was almost about to leave back for his room when a deep chuckle broke the silence causing him to freeze up again. "Back are we?" A voice said, emanating from the ancient artifact which now seemed heavier around his neck, weighted with the knowledge that he knew a spirit was in there.

Ryo shivered from the sensation of the link; it had been a while since a spirit had talked to him through a link, "Akefia...?" He asked slightly hopefully. It sure sounded like the gruff voice of the thief, which was very different from the cold smooth voice of the yami, but he wanted to be sure.

Hearing his uncertain but hopeful tone caused the thief to chuckle lightly, "Hahaha, the one and only~." He answered causing Ryo to release his worry allowing him to relax in the confirmation. Smiling teasingly despite Ryo still being unable to see him, Akefia regards Ryo, "I must say..."He started slowly, "I knew you had fight in you... but that?" He chuckled slightly sounding a bit impressed he continued, "That surprised me. Well done."

'Ah okay...' Ryo said through the link upon hearing it was indeed the thief. He then blinked and then sheepishly began rubbing his neck, he didn't get praised often, 'I surprised myself to be honest. I don't know where I learned to fight like that...' The white haired boy tilted his head realizing how strange that moment really was. He'd never been able to fight before which is what allowed him to get picked on easily. Finding it unimportant and leaving it marked as a heat of the moment thing, Ryo moves on, 'What happened after he lost? The Ring didn't do anything strange afterwards.' He asked as he sat at his work desk.

The Thief King smirked from within the Ring, "Who knows..." He said slightly to himself in regards to Ryo fighting the fragment. Moving on to his new question he looks off to the darker corners of the Ring and huffs out of irritation, "I'm not sure... I haven't felt his presence around since he lost." He answered flatly not really caring about what happened to the Yami.

'Well can't say that's not a good thing.' Ryo shrugged, it wasn't a big concern of his either. If he was gone that was good for the both of them really, no downside really. Looking to his work desk Ryo frowned feeling a bit guilty, 'Sorry, I would have put the Ring back on sooner if I knew you were still around but it wasn't doing anything weird so I didn't know. Are you free from the binds now?' He asked a bit curiously, looking up a bit like he'd see the spirit.

"No...I'm not... still bound I'm afraid..."Akefia replied before frowning, confused by Ryo's regret for not putting the Ring on sooner. Why should he care? The item nearly ruined his life it's perfectly understandable he didn't want to put it back on. "Why did you bother?"

'Oh I see...' Ryo thought still feeling sad for the spirit. Hearing the Thief King's question the boy hums thoughtfully, 'Bother with what? Putting the Ring back on?' He asked slightly confused, the spirit grunted in response telling him he was correct. Ryo leaned back in his chair rubbing his neck, 'Well, if you hadn't helped me we might not have made it out of the Shadow Game. So I should at least check if you're still in the Ring.' He answered normally like it was the natural thing to do.

Akefia goes quiet for a long while taking in the boy's clearly honest answer before letting out an indifferent huff, "Hmph... You do know it was simply just to get back at that bastard." He said flatly wishing he could cross his arms at the moment.

In response to this Ryo laughs a little, 'That's fine with me.'

The Thief King chuckles giving a slightly amused smirk at how easily the boy was okay with what he had said, "Heheh... just so we were clear..." His tone evened out as he continued on, "Regardless... I suppose things patched over well with your friends then?" He asked shifting a bit in his binds.

Ryo nodded, 'With Yugi and the gang yeah, now that they understood what was going on.' He brightened a bit as he once more felt the relief of everything being over return to him again, 'Everyone that was sealed in the figures has been released as you said they would. Luckily they don't remember how it happened, even the teacher doesn't remember.' His expression dropped a bit and Ryo let out a slight sigh, 'People are still wary of me but things have calmed since Yugi and the others 'survived' coming over.'

The Thief King smirks and tries to shift in his binds, the ring twitching in response, "Well then, everything worked in both our favors..." He said before glancing off and thinking to himself, 'For now...'

His host smiles, 'Yeah, it was good to have some peace and not feel like he was watching everything I did.' Ryo replied, getting up and heading into his room looking for something to do thinking to himself, 'What to do now...' He brightens getting an idea, "I wonder if Yugi still watching the Duel Monster's tournament with the others." Ryo grabs his coat, as it's getting late in the day, and slipped the Ring under his shirt and heads to the door, "I hope I can catch them at his place."

Akefia chuckles at his eagerness to go meet up with his friends, "Yeah... you do that." The King of Thieves smirked darkly keeping his next thoughts to himself, 'So then I can better oversee HIM as well...' He said mentally growling 'Him'.

Heading out of the apartment complex Ryo walks briskly through the still busy city of Domino to Yugi's home which doubled as a game shop called the 'Kame Game Store'. Heading inside Ryo catches Yugi's Grandpa as he entered the store, who stood with a package in his hand. A quick greeting passed between them and the two proceeded inside to the house part of the building.

In the living room with his friends Yugi blinked his big violet eyes seeing someone come in with his grandfather. Seeing it was Ryo he brightens happy to see his friend, "Oh hey Bakura!" He called happily, waving a warm greeting to him, getting a polite wave back. He looked to the television in front of him, "You just missed the match." He said pointing to the screen.

Looking at the TV screen that was now showing a commercial Ryo's sighed disappointedly, his homework had held him up longer than he had thought. Letting that go he looked back to his friend, "Oh...so who won?"

"Insector Haga." Yugi answered normally.

Sitting down with them Ryo hums, "I expected as much...Ryuzaki is too forward to beat him." Yugi nodded in agreement, he had said as much earlier to Jonouchi.

Jonouchi who was sitting next to Yugi blinked in surprise, it sounded like Ryo played the game himself. "You play Duel Monsters?" He asked, Ryo didn't look like the type who played card games. He had been surprised when he found out he played Monster World.

Shaking his head Ryo waved it away, slightly disappointing Jonouchi who had hoped for a new friend to duel, "I know the rules and some tricks but I'm not good myself. I haven't really worked on my deck that much." He answered looking at his two friends who he knew dueled, Yugi being pretty good at it.

Yugi glanced past Ryo and took notice of the package in his Grandpa's hands, "Hey what's that?" He asked getting up to get it when his Grandpa motioned for him to come get it.

Holding it out to him his Grandpa looked at it a bit unsurely, "I'm not sure but it's for you."

Knitting his brows Yugi tries to figure out who would send him something, "Huh, wonder what it is..." He said to himself as he sat down to open it.

Within the Ring, Akefia blinks having listened to Ryo's conversation with Jonouchi 'Duel Monsters?' He thought curiously causing him to pay little mind to the package Yugi was working on opening.

Hearing that Ryo did in fact have a deck Jonouchi grins, "Wanna duel with me?"

Ryo sweat drops nervously at his blond friend's challenge not seeming the least bit up to taking it, "Don't have my deck with me. Besides like I said I'm not that good..." He said warily looking away from him.

Jonouchi gives him a look, not approving of his meek behavior when he had seen him fight back during the Shadow Game against his oppressive Yami, "You sell yourself short Bakura." He said simply, then smiles encouragingly to him, "How about we duel once doing school sometime?"

Seeing the smile Ryo nods slowly still seeming unsure but nods nonetheless, "Alright, once couldn't hurt, I guess..."

Even though he was still uneasy Jonouchi continues to smile and give Ryo a good pat on the back, "There you go!" He exclaimed getting a happy laugh from his timid friend.

"A glove and a videotape?" Yugi said suddenly, catching the attention of his friends. He picked the tape up out of the packing peanuts blinking confusedly he looks it over seeing no label of any sort on it.

"Put it in." Anzu said as she sat next to the TV and points to the VCR on the shelf just below it. Yugi nods and puts the videotape into the slot letting it begin to play.

Akefia was keeping an eye on the puzzle as Ryou talks to his friend, having grown bored with the conversation when he feels a distinct shudder go through him, '...What was that?'

A man with silver white hair wearing a high class red suit appears on screen giving a friendly wave at the people watching the video, "Greetings Yugi-boy!" He greeting with a big cheery smile on his face.

Recognizing the man as the host of the previous tournament Yugi gasped in surprise, "Its Maximillion Pegasus the guy that created duel monsters!" He exclaimed, immediately catching Ryo's attention who then looked at the man in intrigued surprise.

Pegasus held up a hand as if to stop them from chatting about his surprise appearance, "I hope you're not too surprised. I just wanted to send this video-letter to the new champion!" He clapped his congratulations on the screen making Yugi look a bit shy, "You did defeat Kaiba-boy after all great job!" Pegasus cheered before looking more serious and pulling out a Duel Monster's deck, "But let's get down to business shall we? I challenge you to a duel with this recording." The man said with a slight smirk playing on his lips.

Yugi's Grandfather who stood at the back of the group looked baffled by the strange challenge, "But how? There's no way of dueling with a recording!"

Yugi's best friend Jonouchi looked confused as well and turned to him, "You gonna do it Yugi?"

Looking determined Yugi pulled his deck out of his deck case and placed it on the ground moving to sit in front of the TV to meet his challenger, "I won't turn down a challenge!" He declared proudly.

Ryo looks at the man on the screen, blinking puzzled, 'Such an odd challenge...' He thought to himself wondering how this would turn out, if it went anywhere at all.

Akefia looked at the video curiously as well as confused having never seen a TV before nor even knew what a videotape was either; despite this it seemed just as impossible and strange to him as it did to everyone else in the room. "How in the hell...? What is this?" He asked in a blunt confusion as he continued to watch.

Starting the duel Yugi looked his hand over weighing his options of his first summon before placing a card down, "I play Devil Dragon in attack mode!" He declared playing the dark dragon monster, "I end my turn."

Pegasus with his eyes closed humming as if in thought before speaking, "Let me guess...Devil Dragon right?" He guessed opening his eyes with a knowing look on his face.

Yugi stared in complete shock, how could he have knowing that through a video, "What!?" He gasped not knowing what else to say.

His blond friend was just as flabbergasted at him and stared at the TV screen, "How'd he do that!? It's just a recording!?" He exclaimed in sheer confusion.

Pegasus chucked slightly as if seeing their confusion through the television screen at the present time, "Oh Yugi-boy, I knew you were going to play that card, I even know what's in your hand! You were going fuse the dragon with your knight to increase your attacking power on your next turn am I right?" Yugi is left completely stunned silent making Pegasus laugh lightly, "Well, I can't let you do that can I? I'll remove your Devil Dragon with this dragon capture jar." Pegasus said as he placed the card on the table that was in front of him on the video. The tan jar appears and the Devil Dragon card turns to mist floating into the screen into the jar that eyes lit up a ruby red. "Your Devil Dragon is sealed!" Pegasus proclaimed with an enthusiastic wave of his arm.

Ryo's eyes widen in sudden realization and he stifled a gasp that wanted to work its way out of his throat, 'This isn't just a game...' He thought as he began to feel a familiar dark sensation form around him and the room.

Akefia growls coming to the same conclusion as his host, "This is indeed a shadow game... I knew I felt something off..." He said keeping his eyes locked with the one visible eye of Pegasus.

Gulping, Ryo feels a shudder go through him realizing what could happen at the end of the game, 'I have a bad feeling about this...' He though cautiously before the Puzzle's eye lit up, signaling Yugi's spirit switching places with him.

"If this is a Shadow Game, then I'm your opponent!" The spirit of the Puzzle stated firmly. Pegasus remains calm chuckling to himself appearing to have expected the spirit to show up. Thus the duel goes on and Pegasus manages to stop every plan Yami Yugi sets up, soon reducing his life points to 1300. Looking frustrated and confused the yami watches as another monster of his vanishes, 'How, how does he know my every plan!?' He thought beginning to feel a bit discouraged by his repeated failures.

Pegasus looked out at him through the television while smirking, looking ever knowing of his thoughts, "I understand you're shocked, but this is reality. You can't beat me." He stated as if it was a cold fact of life.

The spirit of the puzzle looks momentarily surprised at his thoughts being read; now frustrated, he lets out a frustrated growl, "Urgh..." He gripped the carpet trying get a hold of himself.

Seeing his uncharacteristic frustrations Anzu yelled out in worry, "Yugi!"

"Hang on man!" Jonouchi turned to his white haired friend, worry barely hidden in his expression, "Ryo, you had one of those items. Can you see what he sees? Is this another Shadow Game for real!?" He asked hopping it wasn't actually a dreaded game of darkness even though his instincts were saying it was.

Ryo looks to the TV seeing Pegasus's monsters floating near him looking pretty real, "I'm afraid so..." He said grimily. Ryo shifted as Jonouchi said 'had one of those items' knowing he's very well wearing the Ring beneath his shirt.

Pegasus, still appearing very calm with the situation hums, "I think it's time I tell you the other reason I challenged you. It wasn't just for fun." He waved that notion away as if it was foolish, "Listen here Yugi-boy! If you lose you must join the tournament my company Industrial Illusions is holding!" He declared pointing to him, "That event will determine the true Duel Monster's champion-the King of Games! I wanted Kaiba-boy to join to but...too bad I hear he's not going to recover..." Pegasus gave Yami Yugi a knowing look before suddenly brightening right back up again, "Of course the winner will get a LARGE sum of money and something even more valuable!"

Ryo sweat drops seeing his rather…odd behavior, 'For someone with dark power...he's certainly odd...'

Underneath Ryo's shirt, the millennium Ring begins reacting slowly, its power just beginning to return. Noticing this Akefia's expression turned perplexed, "What the hell? It's trying to react? But then... that means..." He looked up at the screen wide eyed; there was only one explanation, "That man has a Millennium Item!"

The sudden revelation made Ryo gasp aloud, 'There are more of these things!?' He asked through the link to Akefia. He had hopped there were only two of the items, his Ring and the Puzzle. It looked like there were more now, sadly. He turned to Yami Yugi and warned his friend, "Yugi that man has a Millennium Item!"

Alarmed the spirit snaps his head to Ryo then back to Pegasus trying to figure out where the item was. He couldn't see the item but he trusted Ryo's sudden declaration. Pegasus, for a moment, looks surprised then smiles placidly only a moment later; Ryo shivers slightly feeling the sensation of being watched. It was like something was creeping over his back.

"Indeed I do Bakura-boy," Pegasus said suddenly startling Ryo when he suddenly said his name. The man pushes his long silver hair back revealing a golden eye in the place where his second eye should be, "I possess the Millennium Eye." The foreigner smirked darkly before continuing, "I must say it's been awhile since I've seen two items in one place." He said smoothly blowing the cover of what Ryo had been trying to hide from his friends.

Ryo let out a small 'Eep' before sweat dropping as everyone turns to him with a questioning look on their faces.

"You're wearing the Ring aren't you?!" Honda interrogated sternly.

Having no way out of this Ryo sighs and pulls the Ring out from under his shirt showing it to everyone, "Yes, but relax the evil spirit not in it anymore. I'm fine." He reassured to the others. His friends looked wary but accepted it since there was a bigger problem at the time for them to worry about. This let Ryo calm a bit, he had been worried about their reaction if they found out he was wearing it. They had taken it rather well though, which was a relief.

Recognizing the particular item Pegasus smiles faintly in an almost nostalgic way, "It's been awhile since I've seen the Ring, the Tomb Keepers finally let it go? Anyhow," He said calmly as he moved on, "as with both of your items, mine has its own power. It allows me to read minds." He gives Yami Yugi a dark knowing smirk, "So you see I wasn't lying. No matter what you do I'll always know and as the creator of the game I will know how to stop it."

The Spirit grits his teeth realizing the disadvantage he was at, "Enough talk Pegasus and get back to the game." He said continuing the game as he plays a monster face down without looking at what it was.

'Hmm, interesting letting his instincts choose for him.' Pegasus thought smiling, totally at ease with his opponent's new strategy, "Your right I should stop talking. This is timed after all." He indicates to a timer up at the top of the screen with his pointer finger. His tone seemed to freeze over with dark warning, "If you don't beat me by the time the tape on this video runs out. I'll take something precious from you, Yugi-boy."

Ryo stiffened catching the American's meaning, 'He's going to take someone's soul!'

The Thief narrows his eyes mentally looking out at Pegasus, "Very perceptive... And it can be any one of them... or you."

Hearing that Ryo gets a cold chill down his spine but glances at the others looking very worried for them, 'I know but I get the feeling it'll be someone closer to him...'

The duel goes on Yami Yugi striking back once but the duel goes on remaining close. Nearing the limit, Yami Yugi summons the fiend Summoned Skull to destroy Pegasus's Faceless Mage… but the final attack fell short as the clock stopped. Yami losing the duel by mere 100 points. Pegasus held his forehead with his hand appearing to be relieved, "Oh! That was close! If that attack had hit I would have lost!" He drops his façade and a creepy smile draws out his lips, "Or would I? He questioned slyly making the spirit of the Puzzle growl angrily. "Now Dear Yugi-boy, I must say that was exciting! You're more talented than I expected!" The praised in a rather genuine manner, "I predict we will meet again in duelist kingdom!" Pegasus's tone turned serious again and a small grin appeared on his face, "Now as I said before since you lost I'll take something precious from you, just so you don't escape...Penalty Game!" The Millennium Eye flashed brightly as Pegasus's activated its power.

Everyone braced themselves even though they had no way to defend against the dark shadow power it was unleashing. The light faded and a foreboding thud was heard…

* * *

**The next chapter is going to be a GOOD one folks so keep reading ;) Next chapter we'll find out how this will all turn out for Ryo!**

**Renagade will be doing the next chapter I'll post when she finishes naturally :)**

**Please Follow/Favorite & Review! It really helps motivate us!**


	7. Chapter 7 King's Ransom

**Ah, now we get to the good stuff~~~Sorry for the wait. Renagade had some things to deal with on her end. Anyway here's the chapter! Longest one we have yet! They may get longer with the duels coming up but we'll find out when we get to that. This chapter was by Renagade with a little editing by me.**

**Also! Rengade has an fanfic account now! Her pen name is Renagade Rex Sphinx! You can find her stories in my favorites! Their really good check'em out!**

**Renagade: Thief Bakura**

**Miss-DNL: Ryo, Pegasus, Yugi, Jonouchi, Honda, Anzu & Grandpa**

* * *

**Chapter 7 Kings Ransom**

As the light faded away, and the room resumed normal light, Yami Yugi lowered his arms from his eyes and turned in the direction of the sound, blinking several times to clear his blurred vision, "What happened?" he froze as he observed the heap on the floor, "Grandpa!" he cried.

Anzu, also stunned turned to look and gasped at the sight of Yugi's grandfather who now lie motionless on the floor staring sightlessly into nothing, "What happened to him?" Anzu gushed fearfully, rushing to his side.

Ryou balled his fists and frowned sadly as he watched the group gathering worriedly around the elder man, his prediction correct, "I'm afraid his souls' been taken from him…" he said aloud shaking his head in dismay, taking no amount of delight in his words, wishing he could say otherwise.

Akefia, watching the scene emotionlessly from within the Ring, hummed to himself, 'And so a new game has arrived….' His thoughts stalled and he shuddered from an odd cold sensation, the Ring shuddering in unison as he looked around for the fleeting source, '….What was that…?' he wondered to himself, narrowing his eyes and keeping silent like a cautious lion.

Yami Yugi shook as he stared at his grandfather's motionless form, his fearful shaking swiftly becoming pure rage as he turned a fierce glare at Pegasus, his glare alone demanding an explanation, to which Pegasus simply gazed back calmly, his ever present seemingly amused grin on his lips, "Now then, let's meet at my Kingdom. If you beat me, your "something Special" will be returned."

With that and a friendly wave of his hand, the TV turned static and an image of Yugi's grandfather appeared on the screen calling out to him in clearly worried fear,

"Grandpa!" Yami Yugi cried, feeling his host's sheer distress as he grasped the Television staring in horror at his grandfather's image.

Anzu gasped in shock, her hand reflexively rushing to her mouth as she saw the phantom image on the screen, "He was put into the TV?!"

Akefia, no longer sensing the chill hummed to himself and then turned his attention to the scene only to snort at Anzu's comment, 'Hardly…. He's taunting. Putting a fire under his tail so to speak…. Nothing less of a Millennium Item wielder.'

Ryou, being the only one to hear the Thief's voice, sighed despondently, both at the events still unfolding before him and the Thief's rather insensitive words, 'Wonderful…. Looks like Yugi will be joining a tournament, more school-skipping I guess.' He grumbled as he moved to allow the two stronger boys to tend to the downed man. Yet another item capable of stripping the soul from its rightful place… Ryou blinked and hummed at the thought, 'Akefia? Just how many of these things are there? Just three… or more?' he inquired to the Thief.

Akefia turned his attention to his host, bored with the sight anyway, 'There are seven Millennium Items in all. A Ring, Scepter, Necklace, Scales, Ankh, Eye and the Puzzle. Each with its own access in ability as well as Shadow Magic.' He smirked as the thought once more presented itself to him, 'Whoever holds them all, holds the world essentially~'

Ryou listened intently to the Thief as he spoke, taking notice of his chipper tone as he spoke, 'I get the feeling you tried to get all of them when you were alive…' he replied hintingly.

Akefia merely grinned proudly, 'I wasn't called the Thief King for nothing…. I aimed for only the best.'

Ryou mulled the comment over and nodded a bit, 'That explains why you're in the Ring I guess.' He mused before he felt his spirits lower at the sight of Yugi, who had regained control and was now cradling his grandfather to him crying freely. Ryou bowed his head sadly, knowing well the feeling of loss.

A growl drew his attention to Jonouchi as he pounded his leg frustratedly, "What are we gonna do? Nothing we were given tells where this stinking kingdom is!"

Anzu, now holding the proverbial can of worms, sat back down on the floor in front of the coffee table trying to keep her voice as level as possible, "Calm down, yelling won't do anything. Let's try digging through the packaging peanuts. Something might be hidden." She reasoned and then proceeded to sift about the little pink puffs of foam, even going so far as to spread them on the coffee table to make sure. Finally she was forced to draw a disappointed sigh, "Nope… I guess not."

Honda sighed as they finished setting Yugi's grandfather onto the couch and even more so at Anzu's declaration, "Guess we'll have to wait. Pegasus wants Yugi to come, so he'll send something." He pointed out, not exactly pleased with his comment as he watched his friend.

Anzu looked to Yugi sadly as he knelt beside his Grandfather, "You going to be okay Yugi?"

Yugi remained in place, his face still streaked with tears, for a short while before finally nodding to her, "Yeah… I'll figure something out." He replied before smiling ever so faintly, "At least he's still here."

Anzu watched her friend and nodded slowly as she observed him, knowing he likely needed a moment alone with his grandfather, "Alright…. Call us if you need anything. We'll go with you to this "kingdom"of his." She offered, hoping to help encourage his spirit.

Yugi paused and looked up at her, slightly startled, "How?" he inquired.

Anzu merely winked at her friend, telling him not to worry, "We'll figure something out." Yugi simply blushed lightly in response and nodded.

"Yeah, no way we're letting you go to this creep's place by yourself!" Jonouchi declared as he stood up confidently, Honda nodding in agreement.

Ryou smiled and also stood; there was no way, he was going to sit by while his friends were suffering, "Don't worry Yugi. I'm used to skipping anyway." He said with a laugh, earning a return lighthearted smile from his friends.

"My dad isn't going to like this…." Ryou sighed aloud as he shut the door behind him. Even though he'd said it, skipping wasn't something he liked to do at all, it only caused problems for him in the long run. Sighing once more, he headed to his room, "Oh well. Might as well pack, I doubt an American will hold the tournament here."

Ryou hummed as he thought about the situation. If it were him, he'd play it a lot like an RPG master, "It'll be somewhere where he can keep an eye on everything while staying in complete control." He thought aloud as he looked around for his things, pausing as he thought about his friend sadly, "Wonder why he's after Yugi?"

Quickly his mind flashed Pegasus' Millennium Eye and Ryou gulped as he recalled that even his Yami had been after the Puzzle, 'Think he wants his Puzzle Akefia?' he thought to the listening Thief.

'Undoubtedly.' Akefia replied without a pause, 'If he has the one item, he's more than likely to be after the rest. I doubt he acquired that one without knowing of the power given.'

Ryou listened intently as he emptied his backpack to make room and began gathering his necessities, 'He did seem pretty knowledgeable of it,' he thought before he shuddered, 'Still he took his own eye out….' He shuddered a little harder at the mere thought at how one would work up the nerve to do that. Quickly he shook it off and continued to pack, sighing as he did so, 'I wish we knew where he was holding this place, but he didn't say anything on TV…'

Akefia sensed Ryou's lowered spirits following his disgust over the Eye from within the Ring and chuckled as Ryou answered his question for him; he was worried over one little detail?

'Is that all? He issued the challenge… He'll send a blunt invitation soon I'm sure.' He replied with a huff.

Ryou exhaled a breath and muttered aloud, "Yes, that figures…."

'Failing that, The Ring is all you'll need in that endeavor.' Akefia finished with a grin, once more recalling the Ring had regained that particular ability. He sensed Ryou's curiosity rise as he looked up blinking,

'How so? To be honest I don't know much about it other than what I found out recently.' Ryou admitted as he set his backpack to the side.

Akefia chuckled at the question, 'The Ring was specifically made to locate the other items in the event they are ever separated. It reacts in the presence of one, or if the wielder desires to locate them directly.'

Ryou sat on the edge of his bed and held up the Ring to observe it, 'Interesting… So that's what the pointers are for, not just…' he paused and then gripped his chest, small aches from his still tender wounds greeting him.

Akefia nodded and then frowned to himself irritatedly, 'However… it does seem a bit weaker as of late.' He announced. That much he was well aware of; once the Ring would easily and without fail point him in the direction of his desire, no matter how far away. But now he was lucky to get so much as a twitch out of it; for a moment he pondered over the fact that it had started when the Yami had lost the Shadow Game. Had He had such influence over the Ring and its energy?

Ryou blinked as he realized Akefia was right, The Ring hadn't done anything at all, and it didn't have that strange energy it once emitted. It had in fact seemed to have gotten weaker, 'Really? Think it's because he's gone?' he inquired, but just as swiftly dropped the subject, unwilling to speak of HIM again. The feeling seemed mutual as Akefia gave him a curt uninterested response and Ryou shifted the subject a bit, 'Is it capable of anything else?'

Akefia hummed a moment and found that his knowledge of the Ring had been somewhat limited, 'It holds many other secrets, a few that I'm not even familiar with.' he admitted, 'I do know it is able to place portions of ones soul into a separate item… but that is a last resort.' And not one he was willing to execute anytime soon, mostly due to the fact that he didn't necessarily know how, nor could currently even if he wanted too.

Ryou nodded and reclined, letting the Ring fall back down and hummed, 'I'm aware of that one…' he sighed recalling his fight with that ugly thing his Yami split from himself, 'I doubt I'll be messing with it anyway. Not that I'd know how.' He replied. Frankly he didn't like the idea of fracturing his soul… it sounded painful and possibly… disastrous.

Akefia merely hummed, shrugging off Ryou's reflections and continued, 'This particular Item focuses more on greed in its own sense. The more you want it, the greater its response.'

'That makes sense.' Ryou thought to him as he slipped his now full backpack under the bed and then went to his closet to retrieve another one to work as his school bag, which he then proceeded to fill with schoolbooks and supplies, "I hope Yugi is ok…" he muttered as he thought of school…he wondered if Yugi would even turn up tomorrow considering it all. He doubted it.

Akefia watched for a few moments as the boy continued packing before he huffed at the items he was selecting, 'Hmph… Still setting up for that scholar's temple? Honestly…' he scoffed almost mockingly. For all that was going on, he was still going to pay something like that any thought?

Ryou looked up and then looked to the Ring, his tone confused, 'Scholar's Temple? This is just stuff for school, I haven't really decided what job I want. This is just the standard stuff really.' He paused as he spoke and hummed, 'Although I wouldn't mind getting a job writing stories… hmm…'

Akefia blinked confusedly as he listened, 'Is that not what this "school" is? A place of learning?'

'Yes…' Ryou replied slowly as Akefia explained the word bluntly. He then thought over what had been said and quickly realized what had gone wrong in the conversation; a simple difference in culture wording, 'Oh, so that's where people went to learn in Egypt? You are from Egypt right?'

Akefia "nodded", 'Yes… same as here I assume,' he replied before grinning, the pride in his voice non-withheld, 'that's right~ Born and bred.'

Ryou gave a curt laugh at the response, 'Probably… Though 'temple' would be too prestigious a word for a school... Maybe for private schools.' He explained before smiling interestedly, 'I guessed as much! It's where Father got the Ring in the first place. I think Yugi said something about his grandpa getting the puzzle there too,' he trailed off as he thought about how the items had been obtained. Immediately his mind drifted once more to Pegasus, 'How'd Pegasus get his I wonder… more interesting is how he got his eye-' Ryou grimaced and felt ill as his mind began throwing ideas at him before he shoved them away, 'Never mind.'

Akefia shrugged and hummed in amusement, 'Whether from a thief or a negligent guardian… in any case, it matters little. By the end of this, there will be another item in someone's hand…' he ladened his eyes as the thought arose and thought to himself, 'It might even be yours, Boy.'

Ryou sighed as he set his backpack down, 'I guess, I just want to help get Yugi's grandpa back…' after all, that was the least he could do for his friend. He had to help in any way he could. Ryou yawned and looked up at the clock, blinking in surprise by the latening hour, "Time for bed." He said aloud to himself. He then proceeded to clean up properly, darkened the apartment and slipped into bed, closing his eyes as he made himself comfortable, "Good night." he muttered to the Spirit.

Akefia merely grunted at the now sleeping boy's comment and turned his attention to the darkened part of the Ring, where the still present second soul room still lingered. Akefia frowned as he attempted in vain to shift against his binds as his soul ever so slightly detected something forebodingly familiar emanating from the dark corner, 'Ever since that shadow game…' he stopped, narrowing his eyes. Was something off? Or was it just him imagining that something was off?

Akefia hummed as he allowed himself to "relax" into his binds. No… no there couldn't be anything wrong. The Shadow Games had seen to that; that was a finality akin to death…and yet. He wondered…

-next day-

"Morning everyone," Ryou greeted as he entered the classroom, to which a dull greeting was returned him making him frown sadly but expectantly, 'I guess they haven't gotten over it…' Not that it was easy to do, obviously… but it was something he himself had been forced to do for a long time just to try and move on.

Ryou paused as he noticed a video camera sitting on Yugi's desk. Tilting his head curiously he looked down at it, "Yugi? Why do you have a camera with you?" he froze and nearly jumped when the image of Yugi's grandfather appeared, waving at him with a friendly smile,

"Hello Bakura! How's your day going?" he inquired rather cheerfully.

Taking a breath to calm himself Ryou smiled to his awkward reaction to little avail, 'He's oddly chipper considering the situation…' he thought as shyly he waved back, "Good so far…" he managed before looking to Yugi, "How'd you do this?"

Yugi looked to his friend and nods to the camera, "Turns out his soul is just in the video tape. Other me picked up on it when we tried to figure out what to do. So we moved him here to keep an eye on him…" he then sighed sadly. Ryou nodded understandingly; no doubt that little fact wasn't exactly comforting,

Akefia, meanwhile shifted to stare at the spectacle in confusion of not only the situation, but the item itself, 'Well that's a new one on me!'

'I wouldn't doubt that…' Ryou thought to Akefia as he stared for a moment, 'I'm not sure what to make of it. At least he's not freaking out I guess…'

A shifting drew Ryou's attention as Jonouchi gave Yugi a halfhearted punch to the shoulder, "Getting depressed won't help him Yugi."

Yugi looked up to his friend and nodded after a moment, "You're right I guess…" he paused and unconsciously placed his hand to his Puzzle, "But other me isn't." he declared.

Anzu straightened up in surprise, "You've learned to talk to him!?" she gasped, everyone else also looking to Yugi in surprise.

To everyone's confusion, Yugi shook his head, "Nope, but if I focus and close my eyes, I can sense how he's feeling."

Ryou blinked in puzzlement, 'He can't talk to him?' he stopped as he thought about it. In actuality, it wasn't unbelievable, 'Then again, I couldn't talk to Him until a few months ago, but I could pick up on his emotions… other than what he'd let me at least.' He thought quietly as he looked at Yugi. Perhaps this whole thing wasn't that simple after all, 'Curious…'

Akefia huffed at the Boy's thoughts, although inwardly couldn't really blame him for them, 'Not likely… He's only recently solved the Puzzle. It's no real surprise… Especially considering the sheer size of the thing, More than this Ring anyway…' he muttered noting the clear difference in the bulk of the Puzzle, 'That…. and he has his,' the Thief paused ever so slightly as he nearly spat the last of his sentence like poison off his tongue, 'Little secrets…'

Ryou shifted uncomfortably under the clear hostility emitting from both the Thief's words and the Thief himself, the spike of emotion making Ryou shudder distinctly. For a moment he thought whether to ask him why, but decided it best be left alone for the time being, 'I see..' he thought before looking back to Yugi, only to notice Jonouchi seemed to be gazing at the Puzzle intently, making him quirk a brow.

Yugi sat staring down at the Puzzle sadly, his only guess for why the Spirit was upset was due to the fact he'd lost the duel causing the whole mess, which although natural, wasn't true. Everyone, especially Yugi tensed and partially jumped as Jonouchi suddenly reached for the Puzzle and proceeded to basically scream at it, "HEY OTHER YUGI! CAN YOU HEAR ME IN THERE? CHEER UP!"

Ryou stared stunned for a moment before fighting to repress a giggle at the ridiculous attempt, 'Akefia… would he even hear that?' he inquired, still trying to hide his amused smile.

Akefia had simply bristled as the blonde yelled, 'Moron,' he sighed irritatedly before answering, 'With a voice that loud and annoying I don't doubt the dead didn't hear him!'

Ryou sweatdropped at the rather ironic comment and chuckled to him as Jonouchi released the Puzzle back to Yugi, 'Sounds about right…'

"Anyway the only way to fix this is to go to that tournament and beat that creep Pegasus!" Jounouchi declared as-a-matter-of-factly, to which Grandpa drew an exasperated sigh,

"The problem is we don't know where that is…" he said shaking his head slowly for yet another time that day.

Everyone drew a disheartened sigh as they all once again began picking their brains for an answer. After a long stretch of silence, Yugi blinked, an odd look on his face as he suddenly sat up from his desk, an excited look in his eyes.

Anzu, momentarily startled by the motion looked to him worriedly, "Yugi, what's wrong?"

Yugi blinked as his thoughts were interrupted, blinking he looked to Anzu, "Sorry, but I need to be alone- I mean the other me needs to be alone for a minute…" With that, Yugi turned and left the room, leaving the group looking after him, still confused,

"What a mess." Jounouchi muttered as his friend left.

Ryou hummed and then glanced at the clock, "Class is about to start…" he announced, the others not really taking much heed to the fact, 'I guess school is the least of our worries right now though,' he thought as he headed to his desk. He gulped at the thought, 'Father isn't going to like me skipping to go to a tournament though…' he thought sadly. Ryou had never had real issues with his father; in fact he loved him more than anything, and not just for the fact that he was the last of his family. It was for that reason that he was sad he never saw him; he was always away due to his job, but even distance couldn't protect Ryou from the multiple missing attendances… Explaining why was not an option. One was simply due to how fantastic a story it would sound like, the other…. How could he possibly tell his father how much he had suffered due to a gift he gave him in good faith?

Akefia merely chuckled at Ryou's comment as if it was a simple answer, 'The man looked well garbed and strikes me as a high class buffoon who loves to throw his riches about… if he invited anyone I don't doubt expenses and pardons would be provided,' he paused momentarily and hummed at the circumstances expectantly, 'Given he plans to let any of you leave at all…'

Ryou sat at his desk and nodded at the response, 'That makes sense, he could at least for the other contestants,' he thought as he looked towards his friends, 'I wonder how we're going to get on board. None of us are duelists…' he thought, mindlessly tapping his pencil eraser on his desk.

Akefia merely snorted at the offhand question, 'And what does one require to become a "Duelist"?'

Humming at the question, Ryou pondered the requirements only a moment, 'Well a Duel Monsters card deck and a reputation. Yugi's Yami beat Kaiba, the best duelist so he's really well known.'

Akefia hummed to himself, his mind going to work. It didn't seem that obtaining a deck was an issue, but to have a reputation in it was a class all its own. And one he was familiar with. In any place or time, having a reputation in anything was no small feat. And considering the Boy's demeanor, he wasn't one to seek such glory and obviously lacked that kind of prestige, 'That may be a problem. And yet…' he reviewed the circumstances of the tournament and the recent Shadow Duel and hummed as he shifted within the Ring, 'We may have all the "Reputation" we need.'

Ryou shifted and sighed, 'Perhaps… I'll bring my deck just in case. Probably should look over it. Haven't used it in a while…'

'Would be a good idea,' Akefia thought smirking at him interestedly, 'Let's see what you've got.' He commented, wondering what silly creatures lurked in Ryou's deck.

Ryou grinned sheepishly as he thought about his untended deck, 'Alright… but I don't promise anything…'

After school, Ryou headed straight home rather than linger at the school. His friends had a lot to worry about currently, and although he felt he should be there, they were all still stuck on square one til further notice. So until and if they got information, it was best to simply prepare.

As he stepped out of the elevator and headed to his apartment, Ryou immediately took notice of the box before his door. As he approached it, he realized it was more than a simple box, 'Oh? A package-' Ryou felt his heart skip and he stiffened, "A package…." He repeated slowly with a gulp as he then walked up to it more cautiously, glancing around as if expecting someone to jump him. Even the Thief King seemed to have grown suspicious judging by the tense waves of emotion he began to feel.

Seeing no one, Ryou looked down at the package at his feet; a label atop it sporting a friendly toon Rabbit waving hi, the label reading simply, "From: I2". Ryou could only stare at the label disbelievingly, 'How can he be evil and chipper at the same time…?'

Akefia also found himself bewildered by the oddity and simply stared at the creature adorning the cover. Never in his life had he seen such a thing and could only find one word to describe it, 'That thing is grotesque…'

Ryou laughed nervously at the comment, a bead of sweat now sliding down his face, 'It certainly is something…' he replied as he carefully side stepped around the object as if still expecting some nasty surprise; only until the door was opened did he carefully take up the object and retreat inside, shutting the door with his heel before setting it before the TV.

Making sure the door was locked, Ryou took up a box cutter and neatly opened it. Setting the sheathed box cutter to the side, Ryou sifted through the packaging peanuts... True to his expectations, he extracted a glove adorning two small star chips and a cassette tape. Ryou gave a tense nod to himself, 'I think this answers that he wants the items…'

Akefia bristled within the Ring as he observed the cassette, not at all comfortable with his first experience of the other video, 'Obviously…' he muttered. Huffing, he banished his thoughts in light of the situation and replaced it with one of intrigue, 'I'm rather curious to know how he plans to bait you.'

Ryou gulped at the comment nervously, "…I don't really want to know but," he stopped there as he took up the cassette and stared at it a long while. Did he really want to know? Did he really want to put this thing in? No doubt he'd be getting a personal audience with Pegasus just like Yugi, and that couldn't be a good thing. Ryou blinked slowly at that thought… it was a risk to be sure. But what if it had a clue to help his friends in it?

Taking a breath, he flicked on the TV and slipped the cassette into the VCR.

The TV flickered only a moment when the long haired man known as Maximillian Pegasus popped onto the screen as if waiting, immediately smiling and waving as he sighted Ryou, "Hello there Bakura-boy~ Glad to see you got the package." He said before his smile turned into a faint smirk as he observed his audience, "I'm sure you know why I've sent you this." he said in a low knowing tone. He smiled as he watched Ryou's hand reach instinctively for his Ring, "That's right, I want your Ring."

Ryou felt his mouth start to dry as the man spoke to him so placidly and directly; regardless, he steadied himself as he looked back at the waiting man, "What do you want the Item's power for Pegasus…?" he inquired.

Pegasus simply hummed at the question; for a moment he pondered over whether or not to tell the Boy.

No… Put simply, no one save himself truly needed to know his motives. However, considering how things obviously seemed to the youth, he decided he'd put his worst fears to rest… for the moment, "I'll tell you this; It's not for world domination or things like that, oh no!" he replied with a wag of his finger, "I have no interest in such things, but I DO need their power. To get what I want I need all of them, and you will give me the Ring~." He replied with a rather final tone.

The tone was not lost on Ryou and he braced himself, knowing this little question was the one he dreaded, "Or…?"

Pegasus smirked at the boy, noting the clear look of apprehension in his body language alone. The boy's fear was justified… but he had no idea. Tilting his head back nonchalantly he responded, "Or.." he paused only briefly as he gestured off screen almost wistfully, "You lose your Father."

Ryou's eyes widened in horror as the screen shifted from Pegasus to the image of an unconscious man sitting with his wrists bound to the wall of a dungeon-style cell. Even with his head down, there was no mistaking it, "FATHER!" Ryou cried, his pale skin now five shades lighter, his hands and body shaking he gripped the TV. This couldn't be happening! NO! He was all he had left!

Ryou recoiled and drew back as the horrific image was replaced once more with the triumphant face of Pegasus, who simply brushed the hair out of his face as he continued, "It's a rather simple trade Bakura-Boy. In exchange for the Ring I'll hand over your Father. I'm a man of my word, you will get him back unharmed." He finished curtly as he gazed back to the clearly shaken boy.

Ryou stared back at the man, his mind racing furiously as he gripped his Ring tightly, unable to speak. While the whole of his very being was screaming at him to act, to speak up to claim the deal…. Ryou found himself hesitating...

"Or," Pegasus suddenly continued as he motioned to the box, "Like Yugi-Boy, you may enter the tournament, beat me and get to keep the Ring AND get your father back. Your choice… I'll give you a few seconds." He purred as he folded his hands on his lap, awaiting an answer. To give the Boy only one choice wasn't very sporty; as a man who enjoyed games, this way it was more interesting to see how the Boy would react. The easy way, or the fun way; given the boy's history… the choice would be a swift one.

Akefia glared at the man from his confines within the Ring, shaking angrily. Despite the man's appearance and peculiar mannerisms, he was every bit as conniving as a man of power was known to be. The introduction of the Boy's father had caught him off guard as well; the man meant business, and he aimed straight for the vulnerabilities of his prey… Akefia felt the Boy's immediate flare in spiraling panic and knew that the man had won and simply bared his teeth and glared anywhere but at the man as he awaited the Boy's choice….

But it didn't come, and Akefia found himself looking towards the Boy, '….Why are you hesitating?' he inquired as evenly as only a thief could as he concealed the clear, genuine confusion in his voice as the Boy continued to remain silent, his emotions in odd unreadable turmoil, 'He's offering you a point blank opportunity; The Ring for your Father with little attached.' He explained pointedly as if to snap him out of his stupor to decide.

'I-I….I'

Ryou remained kneeling on both knees unable to properly respond to the Thief's comment, only managing to stammer mentally, simply far too panicked and freaked out to properly answer as he looked to the box containing the glove and star chips… in one split moment, he felt his panic recede and he gripped the Ring tightly; his choice was made.

"I'll enter the tournament." He said firmly a he looked up at the man in red.

Pegasus felt his features contort in confusion as the boy stared back at him defiantly; despite the part of him that would have preferred that decision, he couldn't help but feel taken aback by it. The boy was willing to risk his father over a piece of gold? Surely that had been a slip of the tongue!

Curious, Pegasus brushed the hair concealing his eye back and peered into the boy's mind. There was clear concern and worry for his beloved Father… oh yes. That love was most definitely there. But he turned his attention to the more concealed area, the one concerning the Ring….. Pegasus blinked in surprise at what he found. A quick shifting told him that was indeed the reason for the decision, "Oh I see now, there's a spirit attached to the Ring… or rather sealed in it." he frowned slightly at the notion, despite what had transpired between them, the boy hadn't known the Spirit long at all and clearly the bond, although beneficial, had not exactly been for one another, "You do realize what you're risking here?" he inquired, still baffled by the decision.

Ryou simply glared back at the man undauntedly, even in the light of his mind being invaded, a fierce determination burned in his green eyes.

Pegasus blinked at the look the boy was giving him only a moment before he simply shrugged, "Very well, It's your decision not mine. In the box is also a pack with cards explaining where to go and more about the tournament. You'll need two of them to enter the final round…If you make it…. Until then, your father will remain unharmed." He smirked slyly as he observed the boy one last time, "Until then Bakura-boy.~"

With that the screen flicked off on its own and left the apartment silent. Ryou, very much shaken, exhaled a breath as he remained in place... his mind now racing to catch up with himself.

Akefia stared at the boy from his confines, completely shell shocked by what had just happened. By the time he found his own tongue he still found himself at a loss, '….Why?'

Ryou blinked at the Thief's break in the silence, more so at how his usually arrogant and confidently firm voice had actually wavered; the confusion not at all withheld. For a moment Ryou didn't say anything, as he simply bowed his head; but then he grit his teeth, 'I'm tired of losing everyone I get close to… I don't want to lose anyone anymore!' he clenched his fists as he spoke, his frame shaking as images of his life thus far flashed in his mind. Gritting his teeth, he snapped away from those thoughts and forced himself to calm down. It was time to start taking the reins; he couldn't let anyone threaten him or his friends like this anymore… He wanted his life!

The boy's words confused him; Akefia could only stare in surprise and shock at the spike in emotions the boy was now emitting, the sheer force of them radiating confidence to back his words, 'He's… fighting not only to save his father… but me as well…?' he just couldn't grasp it… it made no sense to him.

The Thief King simply stared at the boy for several minutes before he finally just gave up trying to find the logic, and huffed acceptingly, 'Hahah… Fighting to keep not only your father whom you share actual bonds too…. And me… the King of Thieves….?' He chuckled amusedly as he said it aloud, 'As you wish. And as such… You will not go in alone. You have my support, Ryou Bakura. I'll lend any tricks I may have for this little "tournament~"' where he lacked in the knowledge of the game, he knew there was bound to be obstacles in the near future.

Ryou perked slightly at the Thief's words and smiled faintly, 'Thank you, Akefia… I'll need it.'

'Just keep in mind that I can be quite… Aggressive.' Akefia commented with a chuckle. He then frowned as he attempted to move only to simply twitch, 'What I wouldn't give to move…' he thought irately in the light that the help he had to offer would be considerably hindered…

'Considering who you say you are, I'll believe that.' Ryou thought with a light smile as he looked back to the box. Ryou felt himself perk significantly as he recalled Pegasus' mention of instructions. Immediately he sifted through the packaging peanuts and located a card pack, which he eagerly tore into, extracting two cards which he then began reading with excited hope, his eyes widening as he read.

The ringing of his cell phone broke his attention from the cards to his phone. Picking it up he blinked in surprise, his brows furrowing as he answered it, "Yugi?"

"Bakura, could you come to my house? There's something I need to tell you." Yugi inquired swiftly and urgently.

Ryou blinked as he looked at the cards in his hand, nodding as he placed two and two together, "So do I, I'll be over as soon as I can." He replied before the two exchanged a hasty goodbye.

Ryou looked at his phone for only a moment before he quickly took up his backpack and headed to his room where he heedlessly dumped the contents out onto the bed and proceeded to retrieve a full binder from the closet, a deck case and the items from his package which he then stowed into the bag as he rushed out his apartment door, barely taking time to lock up, and rushed to Yugi's home as quickly as he could manage.

* * *

**We're heading to Duelist Kingdom folks~! :3**

**I'm typing the next chapter so I'll get that done soon as I can :D**

**Please Follow/Favorite & Review~! It helps keep us going!**


	8. Chapter 8 To Duelist Kingdom!

**Lolz hello again~! Yeah I managed to finish my chapter real quick XD was hit with inspiration. I love seeing how much attention this story is getting~~It's really motivating. This chapter was done by me and edited by Renagade Rex Sphinx (Renagade's fanfic account, you can find her stories in my favorites)**

**Renagade: Thief Bakura**

**Miss-DNL: Ryo, Pegasus, Yugi, Jonouchi, Anzu, Honda, Mai & Haga**

* * *

**Ba-Ku-Ra!**

By: Miss-DNL & RenagadeRexRider

**Chapter 8: To Duelist Kingdom!**

Anzu sat in the living room with the others as she waited for their friend Ryo to show up; currently the others were looking over some cards that Yugi had gotten in an envelope from Pegasus's company Industrial Illusions, I2 for short. It seemed they were going to have to take a boat to an island of some sort. They all figured with Pegasus being rich it was likely to be a private island.  
Hearing someone knock at the door Anzu turned to her friends, "I think that's Bakura. I'll go let him in."

The others let her go and focused on the cards making sure not to miss a single detail. Anzu opened the door and was glad to see it was indeed her white haired friend, but her greeting smile dropped seeing him look paler than usual. He seemed to be in a rush to get inside so Anzu let him pass, her expression worried, "Ryo what's wrong?" She asked quickly locking the door behind them and following after him. Once they reached the living room all attention turned to Ryo and stayed fixed on him when the others saw his expression.

Ryo said nothing as he removes his backpack, unzips it and extracts the exact same dark purple duelist gauntlet that Yugi had received the day before, instantly answering why he looked so grim. Ryo sat down with the others and finally spoke to them, "Pegasus wants the items. He's holding my Father hostage…" His voice seemed to fade off as he remembered the brief image of his Father in a prison cell.

This instantly riled Jonouchi up to a boiling anger, "That creep!" He barked his hands balled up into fists; No one did that to his friends! He gritted his teeth in seething anger wishing he could punch Pegasus in his smug face. But seeing as his anger was wasted currently, he let some of his anger go and looked to Ryo in light of the reason, "What does he want with them anyway?" He asked stiffly.

Shoulders slumped Ryo shook his head, "He wouldn't say…It can't be good though we've already seen what one item on its own can do…" He muttered partly to himself as he lifted the Ring up a bit with his finger. Letting it go he looked up at Anzu, her expression seemed a bit fretful and he furrowed his brow in confusion upon seeing it.

Lightly biting the side of her finger Anzu lowered her head slightly her mind recollecting a past event. She didn't like remembering this…but Ryo had to know this, "Actually we've seen what two together can do..." Anzu said warily, remembering 'waking up' standing on a board suspended off the roof of their school.

Seeing Ryo's surprised expression Yugi took up the job of explaining what had happened to their newer friend, "It was a while back, a while after I finished the puzzle." Hearing him begin to explain Ryo turned himself to Yugi, "The museum opened the Egyptian exhibit. While we went to see the archaeologist, since he was a friend of my Grandpa, I ran into this Egyptian called Shadi he brainwashed him after he had killed the manager of the museum."

Listening silently from within the Millennium Ring Akefia tilted his head, the name resonating with him, thinking to himself he pondered it, 'Shadi? That name seems... familiar to me... eh.' He shrugged slightly in his binds, 'If it's important I'll remember it later...'

Ryo blinked, he had heard about that. The former manager had died of mysterious circumstances, but he hadn't thought an item wielder was the culprit. Then again at the time he hadn't even known about Him… "He went after me to 'test' me and the other me. We all barely got out alive…" Yugi said drearily before looking back to Ryo to finish what he had to say, "He had two of the items, an Ankh and a Scale."

"I remember hearing about that." Ryo answered in a somewhat calm tone, though it sounded a bit distant, "My Father became manager of the museum after he died..." This surprised his friends slightly but now wasn't the time to talk about his Father… Ryo looked to Yugi again, "What was Shadi going after them for?"

Yugi thought for a moment remembering when he first met the mysterious man, "I met him at the museum first. He seemed upset about the mummy of a Pharaoh being put on display." He said, though thinking about it, the man's face seemed to stay rather neutral most of the time, "I think that's it." He answered before looking to Ryo and asking his own question, "Did you get the cards for the tournament?"

Ryou nods pulling the envelope out removing the cards from it showing them to Yugi, "Seems we're going to be taking a boat to his private island..." He said looking at the card of an island, this wasn't good for them but then again…they didn't have much of a choice.

Jonouchi, sitting cross-legged on the floor, crossed his arms as well grumbling bitterly to himself, "Rich people and their money..."

"This will leave you on his territory." Grandpa said from the camera screen, "Be careful you two." He said in a gentle warning tone to both Yugi and Ryo, both nodded curtly. As much as he wanted to be in his body again the elderly man didn't want the two young teens to get hurt trying to help him, especially not his own Grandson.

Kneeling down to the screen level Anzu smiles reassuringly to Yugi's Grandpa, "Don't worry we'll make sure they'll be okay." She promised, getting an agreeing nod from Honda.

"No way we're letting you two go alone." He said looking to his two friends with his arms crossed loosely.

"Yeah, you guys might need some muscle just in case." Jonouchi grinned proudly; he was more than willing to fight in order to defend his friends. His grin switches to a frown, "You two are the ones picked on most of the time..." He pointed out dully making both shift in place out of slight shame. Even after becoming friends with Yugi, Jonouchi had to fight off a few bullies. Ryo had gotten picked on by the gym teacher on his first day. Thankfully now that they both had friends the instances decreased.

Anzu shot him an accusing glare, "You'd know that wouldn't you..." She said stiffly; Before he became friends with Yugi, Jonouchi himself had bullied the little gamer. The blond laughed in a guilty yet sheepish manner rubbing the back of his neck while sweat dropping; Anzu huffed briefly letting the guy off the hook.

Seeing the scene amused the Thief King and he chuckled, "Headstrong and straight to the point..." He shook his head with a grin planted on his face, oh how the foolish amused him, "That's going to bite them in the ass with their lack of brain~ hehehe~."

Ryo twitched slightly at the thief's blatant insult to his friends, though inwardly to himself he admitted Jonouchi wasn't bright all the time. He hummed to himself in a slightly stiff manner, 'Honda's smarter, he'll pull Jonouchi out of it before things get too bad.' The Thief King only hummed mildly in response. Moving on Ryo perks remembering the other item in his bag. Taking out his deck case he turns to Yugi, "Hey Yugi, could you help me with my deck?" Ryo holds the deck case out to his friend.

"Sure Bakura!" Yugi answered happily, slightly excited to see what kind of deck his quiet friend had. Opening it Yugi began looking through the cards; slowly a worried expression became apparent on his face.

Ryo slouches his shoulders his head hung low, "Is it that bad?" He said dismally, bad deck meant he had little chance to save his Father.

Still looking through the cards Yugi shook his head "No, it just won't hold up in competitive play. Most of the monsters are low level too..." He noted while pointing at a weak two star monster that didn't even have a useful effect.

Ryo sighs momentarily, "I thought as much," He pulls out the binder from his backpack and handed it to Yugi who handed his deck back to him, "the rest of the cards I have."

Looking a bit curious the violet eyed duelist opens the binder flipping through the pages looking more surprised with each page. He stops and looks at Ryo with confused and puzzled eyes, "Bakura..." He said slowly, "why are all the good cards in here?" Yugi stared down on one particular page with a lot of good cards on it looking bewildered, "There are some really rare and strong ones in here...they'd make a pretty strong deck." Hearing this Jonouchi grew curious and looked over Yugi's shoulder to see the cards.

"You...really like the freaky looking ones don't you...?" Jonouchi said paling at the sight of monsters that were fitting for an R rated horror movie.

Pushing two fingers together in a meek manner, Ryo looks away from his friends "They're...not really mine..." He said quietly, Ryo knew fully well that some of the cards in the binder were strong. He knew enough about Duel Monsters to spot a powerful card. "The spirit…for a while was going around 'collecting' cards." He said hinting that his previous yami had stolen them, "If I was lucky he just took packs from stores..." Ryo muttered remembering 'waking up' with bruises from fights on occasion, he sighed with a slight shrug, "Then he suddenly just stopped one day."

He looked over a few of the cards, "I believe he was going for an occult themed deck, fiends and ghosts." Ryo guessed not looking the least bit bothered by it in fact he smiled a bit, "I don't mind really, I like them." Hearing this Jonouchi's expression turned shocked as Ryo looked to the binder, face turning neutral, "I didn't use them for the fact they weren't mine but now I don't have much of a choice."

"Well, we can defiantly work with this." Yugi said sounding a bit amused as he starts pulling cards that he felt would be good for the deck out of their slots.

Akefia looks at the cards from his spot in the ring and feels a wave of sad nostalgia wash over him. The creatures depicted on the cards reminded him of Ka, creatures created from within a human soul…reminding him that his wasn't with him.  
"...interesting to say the least..." He turns to his host grinning, he chuckled with pleasantly surprised amusement, "And I would have pinned you LAST for such things...hahaha..." Fiends, undead, and wicked ghosts weren't the first things one would expect quiet, innocent Ryo would like to make a deck out of. This didn't bother the Thief King in the least through, he grinned broadly, "We can work with this~" He mused.

'Eheh, not the first time I've heard that...' Ryo said through the link while sweat dropping, the King of Thieves chuckling in response. In the past, a few of the people he got to be friends with for a while would also say the same thing when he told them he was interested in the super natural.

After a bit of work, questions and discussion Ryo's new occult deck is complete, he smiled at the newly constructed deck feeling more confident now. He looked gratefully to his friend, "Thanks Yugi."

"No problem," Yugi said with a friendly smile, knowing Ryo didn't duel often he went on to say, "I can help you practice over the week if you want."

Knowing he'd need the help Ryo nods, "That'd be great," Think about dueling Ryo remembers his promise to Jonouchi from the other day. He turns his head to said friend, "Oh, I promised we duel didn't I?"

His blond friend pales, looking horrified Jonouchi looks slightly away from his confused friend, "Er, maybe some other time..." He suggested warily.

Easily realizing Jonouchi was afraid of the ghosts, Ryo sweat drops, "We don't have to use the holograms..." he offered only to deadpan when Jonouchi profusely shakes his head along with his hands, clearly he wasn't about to change his mind. 'Probably had bad experiences...' Ryo figured looking at his shaken friend, looked like he wouldn't be dueling with Jonouchi anytime soon.

The King of Thieves chuckles amused by Jonouchi's pitifully fearful behavior, he had grown up with spirits around him it was always funny to him to see people who feared them like the plague. One just had to know how to handle them properly and of course Akefia knew very well how to do so.

"Awww... Afraid of ghosts are we~?" He mocked though the teen couldn't hear him, he laughed again. "Kehehehe~," He turns his attention to Ryo, "Well now. All that's left is to see just how well this Yugi knows his stuff..." He said to his host as Yugi prepared to teach him some things about his deck before he left. All the while his eyes glanced and lingered on the Item around his neck…

/Week Later/

The dock was filled with people moving about, chatting or merely standing around for the time being. All of them had the duelist glove for the Duelist Kingdom tournament, all were either in it for the money, the glory or even both. All of them waited around to be able to board the dock to the island Pegasus was holding the tournament on, his private island. They moved about the lit area, each eager to duel the first person they could in the tournament. Some of them even eyed the others trying to gauge another duelist's dueling capabilities off of looks alone. There of course were the boasters who were begrudgingly tolerated. Officials watched the duelists carefully keeping any eye out for trouble makers to be disqualified. Despite this the air held a lively and excited tone to it and the area was warmer than in most cold areas along the deck.

With his backpack straps neatly on his shoulders, the bag itself full of supplies, duel glove with star chips on one hand Ryo walks up to the commotion. He takes a breath to steady himself before he took in the sight of all the people and the grand ship itself. Ryo was sure he'd appreciate its grandness if it wasn't for the fact it'd be taking him to Pegasus's island.

"Well...here we are." He says aloud knowing Akefia was listening, 'I hope all the practicing pays off...' He thought looking at his black duel case. He'd been practicing his dueling skills with Yugi or by himself as much as he was able to during the week, 'Well, I know I've gotten better.' He had to have improved after so much practice, it was impossible to have not.

The King of Thieves hummed as he looked out at the scene, watching the people move about with miniscule interest, "Yes... As for the paying off... we'll soon find out." He said simply before a smirk comes onto his lips looking at the other duelist like prey to be hunted, "All you need to do is trample anyone that gets in the way~." He instructed as if it was a simple task.

Ryo laughed in sheepish nervousness, he felt the spirit was overestimating his abilities a bit, "Eheh," A bead of sweat slipped down the side of his face, he wasn't sure how to respond to that exactly, 'Uh, I'll try...' was what he ended up saying to Akefia.

"Bakura!"

Hearing his named be called Ryo turned around and smiled spotting the gang lead by Yugi head over to him. Smiling he waved his greeting to them, "Oh there you are." He greeted when they reached him, "I worried I wouldn't get here before you guys."

"Sorry, hope we didn't keep you waiting." Yugi said self-consciously with a slight smile.

Ryo put his worries to rest with the simple shake of his head, "No, I just got here myself." He looks back to the ship and the crowd of duelists that had gathered around it, "There sure are a lot of duelists, the tournaments bigger than I thought it'd be." He said aloud getting agreeing looks from his group of friends.

Looking out at the crowd Jonouchi scanned for any dangerous competition he suddenly gasps spotting two familiar duelists. It was two short guys one with green hair with yellow stag beetle glasses, and one with long shaggy brown hair wearing a red beanie. Quickly he points the two guys out in the crowd, quickly catching Ryo and Yugi's attention, "Guys look! Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki the winner and runner up of the last tournament..."

Honda frowned slightly, looked like there were tough duels ahead for his friends, "Man, tough crowd..." He said aloud, getting some nods from the others.

Yugi looks at his deck as he holds it in one hand, eyes glinting with a determined passion, "We have to win. Everything rides on our decks." He wasn't going to let strong duelists scare him off from saving his grandpa! Feeling the same Ryo nods curtly, he had to save his Father…he was the only family he had left. He had to save him!

Gazing from within the Ring Akefia looks at the pair of competitors, judging them, he huffs unimpressed, "Hmph... hardly look like much..." He paused noting the looks in their eyes, "but they do have that vicious look about them... they may pose a threat..." Akefia pondered the possibility, though only for a second, "but only vaguely I'd wager..." The thief blinks glimpsing a blonde girl in tight fitting clothes amongst the crowd. Akefia quirks a brow, her clothing was rather strange to him, he hums, "Now there's one likely to use more than just mental prowess in a duel..." He frowned, he didn't like the look of the woman, he bluntly grunts, "She looks like a harpy..."

Curious as to who his yami was talking about Ryo looks around for the girl by trying to gauge what he'd see from the Ring's position. Catching the sight of a blond with long flowing hair and a suggestive outfit Ryo gaped, 'Oh dear…' Quirking an eyebrow Ryo tries to see if he could recognize her, 'I don't recognize her from tournaments but that doesn't mean much. She must be here for the prize money.' Ryo perks hearing the announcer say his speech to the crowd of duelists gathered in front of the boat, quickly riling everyone up into cheering and shouting, "Looks like it started."

Akefia listens wistfully and nods with a grin, more than ready for the tournament to begin, "Well then let it begin~~."

Shortly after Akefia said that the woman he'd noted earlier let out a very high pitched laugh causing everyone around her to turn their heads, "Aha-hahaha!"

Ryo winced visibly at high pitched tone of her laugh as it scraped roughly against his eardrums, 'Ah! She is a harpy! She has such a loud voice!' It took all the restraint he had to avoid shielding his ears to avoid catching the woman's attention.

The Thief King also winced at her voice; he groaned, he didn't like this woman already, "Ugh..."

The woman recomposed herself and glanced about her competition that was present around her, "It's like a pep rally for little kids." She laughs to herself flicking some hair over her shoulders, "Then again it is mostly kids here! Hee, hee, I haven't seen any real competition." She hummed hopping she'd at least find a slight challenge to be present in the tournament, wouldn't be fun otherwise, "Yet..." She added.

Ryo watched her for a moment longer looking at her evenly. He sighed to himself hoping he wouldn't run into her during the tournament. He looks back to his friends about to suggest they get aboard the ship before his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what he was seeing…Yugi, Jonouchi and Honda drooling over her! Ryo sighs roughly holding his forehead with one hand, 'Seriously…? She's competition!' Finding no further words he just shakes his head, feeling disappointed in his friends at the moment.

"Seriously...?" Akefia said flatly as he stared at Ryo's friends in a rather dull manner, "That has to be the most repulsive female within the whole of three thousand miles..." He huffs grumbling to himself, "weak minded morons..."

Finding Akefia's view on the blond woman amusing Ryo chuckled to himself, clearly the spirit had different standards on the opposite gender than most men of the current time, 'Most people now a days wouldn't even think of the word repulsive when seeing her.'

The Thief King stopped a moment, staring before sighing numbly, "Oh how the standards have fallen then..."

The busty blonde turns towards their direction and instantly spots Yugi making the short teenager blush, "Hey, you're that kid called Yugi right?" The upstart duelist attempted to answer her but ended up stammering incoherently, the woman laughed at the sight and took it as a yes, "What A Surprise~! How could a little boy like you defeat Kaiba? You're famous you know?" She mused smoothly with a wink, knowing fully well she was flustering the young boy.

Yugi's blush turned an even brighter red and he rubbed his neck shyly, "Er...Thanks!"

'WHO IS THIS WOMAN!?' Anzu thought, her mind burning with rage not liking one bit how the blond woman was acting with her friend, who, along with Jonouchi and Honda, she thought were being complete morons!

Ryo standing next to Anzu gulped noticing her clear rage, "Uh...Anzu?" He managed to say quietly.

Seeing the scene unfold the King of Thieves laughs, "Oho~, what's this?"

Lowering his head warily Ryo speaks through the link in a sheepish manner, 'She's mad...'

The attractive blond blatantly ignores Honda and Jonouchi as they try and introduce themselves and huffs, "Whatever..." Done with whatever she wanted accomplish she turns walking away from the group. Pausing she looks at them over her shoulder, "In a duel it doesn't matter if my opponent is a little kid, anyone who stands in my way...will be CRUSHED!" The woman declared before smirking, "My name is Mai Kujaku." With a faint laugh she headed to the ship while giving them a quick wave, "See yah later, boys!"

Akefia seeming to be happy she left bluntly says, "About time..."

Watching her leave after her display Ryo hums calmly, 'Guess she's serious after all.' His nose twitched picking up a smell, "Hmm?" Quickly he covered his nose almost gagging at the strong odor, 'Ugh! Her perfume is so strong!' Ryo looked to the other guys only to groan seeing them actually smelling her perfume, even drooling while doing so. He rolled his green eyes, 'Oh come on...'

"YOU IDIOTS!" Anzu shouted, loudly enough that it shocks them out of it. Looking thoroughly ticked about her male friend's behavior she shoots them a hard glare "And you guys wonder why the girls all like Bakura..." Anzu huffed whilst tapping her arm with her fingers. Ryo blushed lightly as she brought the subject up and let out a sheepish laugh while shifting his feet where he stood.

Honda blinks blankly, and obliviously answers, "Because his hair is white?"

Smirking deviously at his host upon hearing what Anzu said Akefia slyly muses, "Oh~? Now what's this that I hear~?"

Ryo could practically see the thief grinning at him inside his mind. He shifted nervously; he always got shy when this was brought up, 'Uh...well yeah, I'm kind of popular with girls...eheh,' Ryo sighs mentally not finding it of importance at the moment, 'It doesn't really matter though. I don't really like any of them that way...' Thinking about it he realizes something and sweat drops, 'I don't even know half of their names.'

Anzu rolled her eyes upon hearing Honda's lacking answer, "Come on you two idiots." She said as she roughly grabs Honda and Jonouchi by their arms and pulls them away, "We have to find a way to sneak on board." Anzu said stiffly to the two boys she was dragging away. Stopping momentarily she looks back to Ryo and Yugi who were speechlessly watching her drag the two other guys away, "We'll catch up with you guys in a bit!" Anzu said her tone going back to its usually bright friendly nature.

Watching as she continued to drag Honda and Jonouchi away Ryo waves awkwardly to her noticing the swift mood swing in her voice, "Okay..."

"My, my~," Akefia mused with a slight chuckle in his voice, "And a gentleman to boot~~." He smirked out of intrigue as the three other friends set off to find a way to sneak on board, "Hehe~ let's see how well they manage~." The Thief King doubted they'd impress him, he wasn't often impressed by anything really, but he was still curious to see how they'd manage.

Hearing Akefia's comment Ryo rubs his neck sheepishly before looking to Yugi, "We should get on the boat." He advised to his friend.

Yugi nodded agreeing with him seeing the other duelist forming a line to get on board, "Yeah, let's get going!"

Getting on board the ship Ryo looked around at his surroundings, it was certainly a big ship. He hummed slightly curious about what their rooms would look like, "I've never been on a ship this big before..." Quickly he remembered just who the ship belonged too, 'Not that I can enjoy it...' Ryo though dismally his curiosity dashed to nothing, remembering his friends were sneaking on board he figured they'd need help. He turned his head to his star haired friend, "Yugi could you look for where we'll be sleeping. I'm going to go see if I can find the others," Ryo leans down to him a little whispering, "They might need some help sneaking on board."

Yugi nods to Ryo; he was worried about them as well, "Alright, I'll meet you in the common room." He said as he headed off towards the room.

Watching Ryo as he walked off in the opposite direction of Yugi, Akefia smirked wondering how his host would handle things in order to get his friends onboard the ship.

Thinking quickly as he walked along the outside of the ship, Ryo quickly thought of the ways the others could use to get on the ship, 'There's only one way,' he thought as he looked over the metal rail that lined the ship. Ryo then spots the anchor chain, which as he expected, his three other friends where steadily climbing up, 'There they are.' Knowing there was a level below him Ryo turns around and heads to it. Reaching where the anchor was again Ryo looks over the rail checking their progress.

Spotting his friend's white hair easily in the dark Honda blinks his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, "Bakura?"

Hearing him Ryo nods, he looks around making sure no one was around before answering his friend in a hushed tone, "Keep going I'll keep watch." Managing to hear him Honda nods and starts climbing again much to the relief of Jonouchi and Anzu.

Akefia nearly groans at their cliché choice of sneaking on board, then again he couldn't have expected much from armatures, "Tch... up the anchor," the thief rolls his eyes drolly, "But of course." Hearing something heading towards them he blinks, "Eh? Heads up boy... might have someone coming..." He pauses momentarily listening carefully to the footsteps, "Sounds rather heavy... could be a hired guard..."Akefia warned.

As the Thief King said a large guards turned around the corner pausing only momentarily when spotting Ryo looking out over the rail, "What are you doing out here?" The man questioned getting Ryo to turn his head to him, "Shouldn't you be heading to your homeroom?"

Remaining calm Ryo blinks his eyes, "Oh?" He looks up at the guard giving him a quizzical look, "I wasn't aware that I was required to head in at a certain time." Ryo said furrowing his brow looking confused by the guard's questions. Hearing Ryo talking to someone Honda stops alerting the others to stop climbing the chain immediately. Holding on to the thick metal chain Honda tenses hopping Ryo will be able to get whoever it was to leave soon.

"No not entirely..." The guard answers while crossing his arms, "but there have been a few incidents already of people being forced out of their rooms by other duelists or otherwise..." He grumbled sounding annoyed by the situation, "It's getting troublesome, so they want the duelists to ensure things are in order and no problems... if there are, then report to the security." The guard instructed to Ryo.

"Ah," Ryo nods to the guard in understanding, "No I'm fine just getting some fresh air," He reassuring normally to the man, "thanks for telling me though."

The guard looks him over humming, the boy before him seemed innocent enough, harmless really so he nods, "Alright then. Enjoy the ride then." He walks off rounding the corner once more out of sight letting Ryo breath easily again now that he didn't have to act anymore.

"Well handled." The King of Thieves said through the link, his voice lightly tinged with an impressed under tone, "I've seen people panic over less..." He added looking at his host, while remembering how others would panic when they haven't even started their thefts. Yet his goodly host had gone through the instance without the guard even suspecting a thing.

The Thief King's host looked back over the rail once he felt sure that the guard wouldn't be coming back anytime soon, 'Sadly I have experience at it...' He says to the thief, remembering how he'd 'wake up' in strange places and have to explain himself or lie to his Father about his absences in school. Ryo then indicates for the others to climb up and not long after he helps Honda over the rail he then helps Jonouchi who in turn helps Anzu over before anyone else can arrive.

Jonouchi exhales in relief before rubbing a slightly sore arm, "Thanks Bakura, we owe you one."

His white haired friend turns and starts heading to the common room answering him as he walks "You don't owe me anything," He motions the others to follow him, "come on we should head to the common room. Yugi is waiting for us." The others nod and they head to the common room which was alive and bustling with duelist, making the space look rather cramped. Looking around it didn't take Ryo long to spot Yugi's tri-colored hair among the crowd despite his small size. Going up to him he noticed his friend looked rather upset about something, "Hey Yugi, what's wrong? Did you find out where we'll be sleeping?"

Yugi sighs looking up at Ryo before motioning to the room, "This…is where we're sleeping..."

Shocked Ryo stares at him jaw partly hung open, he hardly knew what to say aside from the obvious, "What? We don't even get a room!?"

His friend shook his head creasing his brow slightly looking vaguely annoyed, "Nope, not even a bed. Only tournament finalists get rooms." He said flatly remembering how Haga and Ryuzaki got rooms and the rest had to sleep out here.

Ryo frowned irately, with a boat as large as the one they were on there were bound to be enough rooms for the current amount of people and then some! "I find it hard to believe that there are that many finalists on this boat." He said stiffly as he started to take his backpack off his back.

Kicking the floor Jonouchi growled to himself, "Damn rich people..."

The Thief King huffed, seemed some things never seemed to change, "That's typical of anyone of high class. They only recognize 'their own'..." He explained dryly to Ryo before dully adding, "So don't take it personally..."

Hearing the spirit's explanation Ryo sadly knew that it was true, "There isn't much we can do about it anyway..." He sits down against the wall putting his backpack next to him watching as the others settled down around Yugi and him.

"True enough..." Akefia said simply to the boy, nothing could be done so no use fussing over it.

Ryo looks around seeing what the other duelists were doing to past the time before they decided to go to sleep, 'A bunch of people are trading cards. This is the last chance to get new cards.' He grabs his deck case off his hip, 'I'm fine though,' He shifted were he sat a bit nervously, 'Also don't want people taking a peek at in case we duel.' Ryo thought pensively before he smiles seeing Jonouchi and Yugi trading cards with each other. He admired that the both of them could still act like they normally did in a time like this while he was stuck worrying. Ryo blinked hearing Akefia chuckle through their link.

"Being sneaky are we?" The thief questioned slyly before chuckling again, "Kehehe~ I might be rubbing off on you~." Akefia pointed out with a grin, though he did agree with the boy. Better to play it safe than be sorry you didn't later. Caution always had its place in a situation like theirs.

'That may be,' Ryo replied, then thinks to himself keeping his through private, 'It might be good in this case...' He'd need some of the thief's confidence and quick thinking to rub off on him if he was to get through Pegasus's tournament. Thinking about it, the other Yugi seemed to have such an effect on Yugi…was that what a happened to a person with a yami? Ryo rests his head against the wall trying to relax but as time goes on he only feels more restless, all the noise of the busy crowded room not helping him, and gets to his feet. "I'll be right back, I need some air." His friends look at each other but let him go. Ryo heads out leaning on the rail taking in a deep breath of the cool ocean air helping him feel more relaxed, 'Much better...'

"About time... more noisy than a tavern in there..." Akefia commented briskly, the only thing that had been missing was alcohol and a drunken fist fights.

Ryo blinks, he hadn't thought that the noise could have bothered the thief partly due to the fact he'd been so quiet. He frowned a bit, he hadn't meant to make him listen to all that noise, 'It was bothering you Akefia? I'm sorry. I would have left if you asked.'

The Thief King huffed at his concern, "It was bearable..." He hums noting the restlessness that had caused Ryo to leave the common room in the first place, "but it seems different in your case... lot on the mind I take?" He questioned tilting his head a bit.

The boy's tone grew quieter as he looked out at the gently rolling waves of the ocean, 'yeah...I don't like sitting here when Father is in danger.' He gripped the metal bar tensely. He grew more anxious just thinking about the image of his Father being held captive. 'I can't rest with that on my mind. I'm used to being threatened whether by the spirit or by people. I've dealt with that for most of my life but I never thought Father would be put at risk...'

Akefia grew quiet for a while listening to Ryo speak his heart out, it wasn't hard to pick up the stress and worry coming from him but one could just as easily see it on his face, "...You never know when life will play you a wild gambit..." He said finally to his host with a sigh, he knew very well how life could suddenly be so cruel to someone, "Just don't worry about it."

'I'll try...' Ryo answered his voice sounding distant. Hearing someone walking towards him Ryo was pulled from his thoughts turning his head Ryo sees Jonouchi standing behind him. Ryo blinks curious of his presence, "Jonouchi?"

His blond friend looking a little troubled gives him a slight wave before clearing his throat a bit, "Uh hey," He started sounding a bit hesitant about speaking with him, "Bakura um, I know you wanted some time to yourself but I wanted to talk to you about something..."

Noting his odd uncertainty Ryo knitting his brows feeling a little concerned he hopped nothing was wrong. Turning to him Ryo says, "No you're not bothering me. What is it?"

Jonouchi sighs calming himself, he rubs his neck before standing next to him along the rail, "You remember my sister right? I got that video message from her a couple of days before all this started." He explained looking worried again when speaking about his younger sister.

Thinking back for a bit Ryo nods, frowning sympathetically remembering what condition his sister was in, "Yeah, she's...going blind…" At that moment Ryo understood why Jonouchi had come to him, "I understand," Jonouchi looks at his friend puzzled by the sudden shift in the conversation, "I'll give you the money so she can have her operation if I win."

For a good while Jonouchi stared at him stunned by how willing he was to give up so much money for his sister, and so out of the blue. After a while Ryo began to worry about him for going so silent he was about to ask if he was okay when Jonouchi suddenly did something of a bear hug, headlock, strangle hold mix, "Thanks Bakura! If you ever need anything just ask!" He exclaimed while grinning happily.

Having this come out of nowhere not only startled Ryo but also put him in a bit of daze, and confused him as well. Ryo gasped not able to breathe quiet properly, "Letting...me go... would be a nice start..." He suggested between gasps.

Jonouchi sweat drops letting his skinnier friend go, rubbing his neck he apologizes, "Sorry...got to excited...eheh."

Ryo rubs his own neck that feels a bit sore from being held so tightly, "Its fine."

Seeing how frail his host was Akefia huff bluntly, "You need to eat more meat..." The only response he got from Ryo was a sheepish laugh and a sweat drop.

Jonouchi looked out at the ocean with his arms resting on the rail, his face suddenly becoming subdued, "Seems it's taking too long to get there doesn't it?"

Noticing the sudden change in mood Ryo perks slight but nods solemnly, "It does..."

A solemn silence falls between the two friends until they heard what sounded like a scuffle happening near them. Jonouchi looks off towards the sound of struggle, "What the?" He looks at Ryo who nods in a silent agreement and they both go to investigate. The two run towards the scene and to both of their shock they catch the sight of Insector Haga throwing some of Yugi's cards over the rail and into the ocean below. Yugi lay collapsed against the rail appearing to have hit his head against it in a struggle to get his cards back. Jonouchi growls angry that his best friend had been harmed and charges at him. He snatched Haga right off the ground, holding him up in the air while snarling, "You little creep!"

While Jonouchi was handling Haga, Ryo rushes over to Yugi to make sure he's okay, holding him steady he tries to get answers from his slightly dazed friend, "Yugi what happened!?"

Groaning Yugi rubs the back of his head, "Haga snatched Exodia from my hands, I tried to get them back but he hit my head against the rail..." He looked out at the ocean, big violet eyes filled with guilt for losing his Grandfather's cards, "now Exodia is gone..." Ryo looks out at the waters trying but failing to see the cards floating in the dark waters bellow. The five pieces of Exodia were lost to the ocean.

Hearing that Jonouchi glares at the frightened tournament champion, he narrows his eyes further frightening the insect duelist further, "Just so yah know...I'm not afraid to hit a guy with glasses..." In a matter of moments Jonouchi pummeled the underhanded cretin and left him crumpled up against the wall, "Humph, little creep." He huffs before he looks to Yugi worried about his friend, "You okay Yugi?"

Yugi nods getting up leaving Bakura's support, "I'm fine..." He looks to the camera slung over one of his shoulders that now held the tape that has his Grandfather's soul within it. "Sorry I lost Exodia grandpa..."

His Grandfather looked out past the screen at his grandson looking far more worried about him than his cards, "Don't worry about it Yugi. I'm glad you're okay."

The King of Thieves observed the scene, Haga in particular, from his spot inside the Millennium Ring, "Getting rid of the competition like that... effective... but such a coward."

Hearing this Ryo frowns disapprovingly, 'Coward or not that was unexceptionable.' He said stiffly through his link with the Thief King. He blinks noticing something is off with Yugi but quickly realizes his other half has taken over Yugi's body.

Akefia's eyes widened in angry surprise, trembling in anger, his host was right…'He's right there... and,' His tone changed to a grating stiffness as he thought to himself, 'I can't do ANYTHING...' The King of Thieves was trembling hard enough in his shadowy binds that the Ring was shaking from his sheer anger.

The spirit of the Puzzle in control of Yugi's body walks up to Haga roughly jabs Haga in the side with his foot making the unconscious champion wake up, "Get up you cretin." He growls before roughly pulling him up to his feet. "When we get to the kingdom...I'm going to CRUSH you LIKE THE LOWLY INSECT YOUR ARE!" Yami Yugi snarled furiously. He bared his teeth glaring sharply at him when he get gets a mocking grin in return.

Jonouchi puts a hand on Yami Yugi's shoulder, "Come on Yugi…" He shot Haga another nasty look, "don't waste your breath on this creep."

The yami nods curtly to him, he gives Haga one last look before he turns to leave, "You're right. Let's go," He turns his attention to Ryo, "We'll need our rest."

Ryo nods, following him before glancing at Haga for a brief moment, 'If he doesn't defeat him I will...'

* * *

**Next chapter our heroes will arrive in Duelist Kingdom! Who will Ryo duel first? Will he duel Haga? Or someone else? How will Akefia react to the new form of dueling? You'll have to wait patiently for Renagade to finish her chapter!**

**So, please Follow/Favorite to keep up with our story! And please leave a Review! It helps keep us motivated!**


End file.
